There is a fine yellow film of pine pollen on the car this week, and another one on the porch rail, and probably one on me. It is the time of year when I keep the windows shut and do a lot of baking to make up for it. This morning it was biscuits, the way I do them most Saturdays: Lila standing on the step stool in her pajamas, flour up to her elbows, cutting rounds with an old juice glass while Ben pretends not to hover by the oven.
It took me a long time to make a biscuit I was proud of. For years mine came out flat and dense, more like a scone that had given up. The fix turned out to be less about the recipe and more about temperature and restraint. Here is the whole process, with everything I wish someone had told me.
What you need (makes 8 to 10 biscuits, about $1.75)
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for the counter (about $0.40)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter (about $0.90)
- 1 cup cold buttermilk, plus a splash if needed (about $0.35)
- 2 tablespoons melted butter for the tops
Southern soft-wheat flour makes a more tender biscuit if you can find it, but regular all-purpose works fine. I use whatever is on sale.
Step by step
- Chill everything. Put the stick of butter in the freezer for 20 minutes. Keep the buttermilk in the fridge until the moment you need it. On warm days I chill the mixing bowl too.
- Heat the oven to 450°F. Put a cast iron skillet or a heavy baking sheet in while it heats if you have one.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a wide bowl.
- Grate the frozen butter straight into the flour on the large holes of a box grater. Toss with your fingers to coat each shred. This was the change that fixed my biscuits. Cutting butter in with a fork or pastry blender works, but grating is faster and keeps the butter colder.
- Add the buttermilk and stir with a fork just until shaggy. It should look a little too dry and messy. That's right.
- Turn it out onto a floured counter and press it into a rough rectangle about an inch thick.
- Fold it like a letter: one third over the middle, the other third over that. Pat out again, turn it, and fold once more. Do this three or four times in total. These folds make the layers.
- Pat to about 3/4 inch thick and cut straight down with a floured cutter or glass. Do not twist; twisting seals the edges and they won't rise as high.
- Place them close together in the hot skillet so the sides touch. They push each other upward.
- Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until tall and golden on top. Brush with melted butter as soon as they come out.
The mistakes I made for years
Overworking the dough
I used to knead biscuit dough until it was smooth, the way you would bread. That develops gluten and makes them tough. The dough should still look rough and a little crumbly when it goes in the oven.
Warm butter
Our kitchen gets warm fast, even in March, with the oven on. If the butter softens and blends in, there is nothing to create steam pockets in the oven. If the dough starts to feel greasy, I slide the whole thing into the fridge for ten minutes.
Twisting the cutter
I did not believe this one until I tested it side by side. The twisted ones were noticeably shorter and lopsided.
Using old baking powder
Baking powder loses strength after six months or so. Drop a spoonful into hot water; if it doesn't fizz hard, replace it.
Notes
- No buttermilk? Stir 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar into a cup of milk and let it sit 10 minutes. It's not quite the same, but close enough on a weekday.
- To freeze: Cut the biscuits and freeze them raw on a tray, then bag them. Bake from frozen at 425°F, adding 5 to 8 minutes. I keep a bag in the freezer for mornings when nobody wants to cook.
- Scraps: Press the scraps together gently once and cut again. Those biscuits will be a little uglier and a little tougher. In our house they go to whoever is least picky, usually Ben.
- Serving: Honey, sausage gravy, sorghum, a slice of tomato in summer, or a square of cheddar. Lila likes them split, buttered and dipped in her milk, which I try not to watch.
- Sweet version: Add two extra tablespoons of sugar and you have shortcake for strawberries, which will be coming to the farmers market soon.
The skillet is soaking in the sink now. Pepper is lying in the patch of sun by the back door where a crumb fell earlier, just in case another one does. Outside, the pollen keeps drifting down, but in here it smells like butter and the morning is going slowly, which is exactly how I like Saturdays.
