BEST Homemade Biscuits

BEST Homemade Biscuits

4 cups self-rising flour, plus more for dusting (recipe below)
1¼ teaspoons kosher salt
1 stick very cold butter, plus 3 tablespoons melted
2 cups cold buttermilk (recipe below)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 425℉. Place empty 12" cast-iron skillet in oven.

While the oven and skillet are heating, make buttermilk (see recipe below).

Place the flour and salt into a large bowl.




Dice cold butter and place into food processor. Add a cup of the flour. Pulse until butter resembles peas.

If you don't have a food processor, you can use a pastry blender or two butter knives (use a criss-cross motion with the knives to incorporate the butter into the flour).




Don't worry too much about the pieces of butter all being the same size. Larger chunks like this are OK.

Transfer the flour/butter mixture back to the rest of the flour.




Add the buttermilk, but not all at once. Sometimes I don't need the entire two cups. The dough will be lumpy, moist and very sticky.




Pour the batter onto a heavily-floured surface. Be sure your surface is covered liberally with flour.




With floured hands, gently smooth the pile o' dough into a flat, 1" disc. No rolling pin needed. Just smooth it with your hands. You can feel how lite the dough is just by patting on it. Love that!

This is a great recipe for kids to help with. My ten-year-old daughter loves to help (those are her hands in the photo above).




Remove the hot cast-iron skillet from the oven.

Tip: Place an oven mitt on the handle and keep it there until you put the skillet back in the oven. This will protect your tender hands from accidental burns - the instinct to grab a pan handle is strong.




Add one tablespoon of oil to the skillet. It might sizzle - that's OK.





Cut your biscuits and place them in the skillet. I get 8 biscuits using a 3½" cutter. Allow the biscuits to touch each other in the skillet.

If your hands aren't well-floured, it will seem like the biscuits are very sticky and fragile. Don't worry if you can't transfer them to the skillet without keeping their perfect round shape.

It might look like the biscuits are oozing together in the skillet. No worries - they'll separate beautifully once baked.

Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter while you cut the biscuits.




Pour the butter over the biscuits.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.
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How to make Buttermilk

Ingredients:

Milk (just under one cup)
1 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice

Preparation:

1. Place a Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.

2. Add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line.

3. Let stand for five minute. Then, use as much as your recipe calls for.

Note: I've let mine stand for much longer than five minutes. It looks a little lumpy, but it's OK to use.


How to make Self-Rising Flour

For each cup of all-purpose (AP) flour add: 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt

For this recipe, that's 4 cups AP flour, 6 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons salt.

Found On http://bluechateauinteriors.blogspot.com