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Title: Buttermilk Biscuits, Revised
Categories: Bread
Yield: 30 Biscuits
| 4 | c | Flour |
| 2 | tb | Baking powder |
| 1 | ts | Baking soda |
| 1 | ts | Salt |
| 2 | ts | Sugar |
| 2/3 | c | Butter; softened |
| 1 1/2 | c | Buttermilk; see note |
| 1/4 | c | Butter; melted |
Sift flour with baking powder, soda, salt, and sugar. Cut in 2/3 cup of butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened.
[NOTE regarding buttermilk: If you are using commercial, cultured buttermilk, use the ingredients as specified. Commercial buttermilk is a "sour milk" product and has enough acid to activate the baking soda. If you are using the buttermilk left over after you make your own sweet cream butter you MUST sour it first by adding a tablespoon of white or cider vinegar to the measured buttermilk and allowing it to stand for a few minutes. If you don't do this, the biscuits will not rise as well or as lightly because there will not be enough acid in the dough.]
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 or 5 times. [When you turn the dough out onto the board it will be slightly elastic and somewhat layered. Knead it simply and quickly by merely folding the dough in half and pressing it out with the hands. Keep your hands cool as you work with the dough and don't fold more than the number of times called for in the recipe. Overworking the biscuits will make them tough.]
Roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness; cut with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. Place biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet [or on a sheet lined with baking parchment (preferred)]. Brush tops with the melted butter and bake at 450 F for 8 minutes or until golden brown.
When cutting biscuits, never twist the cutter; that will seal the edges and prevent proper rising. If the cutter is not cutting all the way, consider a new cutter. [Use a sharp cutter, not a glass tumbler. The rounded edges of a tumbler also press the biscuit's edges closed and won't allow proper rising. No biscuit cutter? Try cookie cutters for interesting shapes. My daughter *loves* heart-shaped biscuits.]
From "Traditions" by Houston A&M University Mother's Club.
Shared by Wesley Pitts 11/7/93 [Revisions by Dave Sacerdote, 02/97, set off in brackets.] From: Dave Sacerdote Date: 24 Feb 97 National Cooking Echo Ä
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