When Buttermilk Biscuits Fall Flat.

Last fall, I made my first attempt at buttermilk biscuits.  Because I had leftover bacon grease (yes, I am the kind of person who will keep a jar labeled "bacon grease" in my refrigerator), I thought I'd substitute some of that for the butter.  I can tell you, they certainly smelled delicious while baking.  The flavor was even pretty good.  But the texture was more like this:

Image from: www.site-2-shop.com

... Not very appetizing.  Although I think I would have been heartily welcomed at Koom Valley reenactments.

What I did wrong:
1) Didn't use cold butter/buttermilk.
2) Used old baking powder.
3) Rolled out the dough (BIG mistake).

Using cold butter and keeping other ingredients cold will create small pockets in the dough, giving you flakier biscuits.  Baking powder has a shelf life of 6 months to a year, and if it isn't active, baked goods won't rise.  Rolling out biscuit dough overstimulates the gluten, giving you tough biscuits.  So my biscuits were dense, flat, and heavy.

Then I found this recipe.  And ever since, biscuits have become an obsession.

First, I usually cut up the butter* and pop it in the freezer for a few minutes.  I also keep 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk in the refrigerator until needed.  Then I pulse the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and butter together about 4 times in a food processor, until most of it is the texture of coarse meal, before pouring it all into a bowl to add the buttermilk.

Don't freak out if there are chunks of butter left after cutting in the butter/processing. This just means flakier biscuits!

The recipe calls for "approximately" 1 cup of buttermilk for a reason.  I usually have to use another ~1/4-1/2 cup to make a nice sticky dough.

Folding the dough over can get messy, but it's definitely worth it for the flaky layers. Just remember that as tempting as it might be to turn to the rolling pin at this stage, don't do it!  I promise that your teeth will thank you.

If you don't have a biscuit cutter, you can flour the rim of a glass and use that.  When cutting out biscuits, use a firm up-and-down motion, and try not to twist.  Twisting can make your biscuits not rise as high.

I like soft sides, so I let the sides of my biscuits touch.  If you like crunchier sides, you can leave space between them.  I also like to brush the tops with melted butter. I've tried brushing with buttermilk but decided regular butter tastes better.  You don't have to brush them with anything, though.

The biscuits should quickly start rising.  This should have been the first sign that I had done something wrong the first time around; I looked in the oven after a couple minutes, and the biscuits looked just as flat as they had been before putting them in the oven.**

Take out the biscuits when they're golden brown on top.  For me, that's after about 15 minutes. Our oven doesn't quite cook evenly, so one side does get more done than the other, but any darker than this would have been overcooked.  It might be difficult to tell in this picture, but the biscuits made from pressing the scraps together (on the far left side) didn't cook as evenly or rise as high. 

I sometimes try harder to make my biscuits more round-- the one on the right in front looks a bit like a beetle, no?--or symmetrical, or the same height, but it really isn't necessary.  You can even cut the dough into squares or triangles if you don't want to waste any dough.  They'll still taste good.  And isn't that what ultimately matters in a biscuit?

*I do prefer butter for this recipe, but you can use shortening or substitute some of the butter for shortening or bacon grease.  Shortening will give a lighter texture but less buttery flavor.  Bacon grease will give a denser texture and a smokier flavor. 
** I've made taller biscuits with this recipe before by pressing out dough to no less than 1" thick, but I've found that works best if you double the original recipe.   The original gives me about 10-12 thinner biscuits (not thin, just thinner) or roughly eight thicker ones.  I made twelve because around here, eight biscuits can disappear awfully quickly...






DEEMS THIS RECIPE:
About as easy as pie dough,
only less time-consuming.