Here it is!  The grand finale in my quest for the perfect buttermilk biscuit recipe.  I have finally, through many trials and tests – three of which I wrote about here, here, and here, found the recipe that I will be passing down to my children and their children.  That’s how much I love them (the biscuits and my children).

Here is my one disclaimer:  If you like thin, crusty biscuits this recipe is not for you.  I would say this is the major difference in people’s tastes in homemade biscuits.  Some enjoy tall and fluffy, some thin and crusty.  Personally, I wouldn’t turn away a quality homemade biscuit no matter what, but my preference is for the tall, fluffy and flaky ones.  That’s what this recipe delivers.

First of all, I found by using unbleached all-purpose flour my biscuits rose higher and held together better.  When bleached flour (White Lily) was used, it made a softer biscuit that was not quite as tall and fell apart easier.  (My guess would be that using less fat with the bleached, low protein flour would give you a great thinner, crusty biscuit.)

Secondly, the type of ‘fat’ I ended up liking best was butter, after making shortening, butter/shortening, and all butter versions.  The half-and-half version tasted good, too, and the shortening may add just a little more flakiness, but I think this really comes down to convenience and personal taste.

Finally, here are my conclusions about how to make the best biscuit possible:

• Sift the flour so the biscuit will be tender and rise as high as possible.
• Make sure the butter/shortening and buttermilk are very cold.
• Leave some larger pieces of butter/shortening along with the smaller pieces when cutting it into the flour.
• Make sure the dough isn’t too dry – it should be sticky before patting or rolling it out.
• Knead only enough to incorporate all the flour.
• Cut straight down with the biscuit cutter – don’t twist.
• Don’t skip the melted butter on the tops after baking.

So if you’ve been searching for a great biscuit recipe, you came to the right place.  Don’t be afraid – once you make these a few times, you’ll be ready to churn them out like your grandmother.

Hot, Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

from Shortbread

makes about 10; can easily be doubled

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), shortening, or both, chilled
• 1 cup buttermilk plus a few tablespoons more if needed, chilled
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 485 degrees.
2. Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl.
3. Cut in the butter/shortening with a pastry blender or fork until it is in pieces the size of large and small peas.
4. Stir in the buttermilk with a fork until the dough starts to come together.  Using your hands, knead the dough inside the bowl to incorporate all the flour.  The dough should be sticky; add more buttermilk if it is too dry.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and fold over itself 2 or 3 times to make layers.
6. Roll out dough with a floured rolling pin or pat with hands to 3/4 inch thickness.
7. Cut out rounds of dough with a 3 inch biscuit cutter (don’t twist!) and place on a baking sheet so they almost touch.  Push the scraps together and cut once more, then place the last of the scraps on the pan.
8. Bake for 9-12 minutes until golden brown, checking about halfway to rotate pan.
9. Brush biscuit tops with melted butter right after removing from the oven.  Serve hot.

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The biscuits are back.  This time they are made with White Lily flour and half butter, half shortening.  I’ve actually made these a few times, but was just too lazy/busy/forgetful to take a picture.  We’ve been having country ham a lot with the biscuits, my personal favorite biscuit accompaniment.  I’m thinking I must do some research on buying whole country hams, so we can have it more often, but I digress.

The real matter at hand is these buttermilk biscuits and their comparison to biscuit batches #1 and #2.  As I said, I used sifted White Lily flour and both shortening and butter.  They were still tender, light, and fluffy and more golden than when I used only shortening (#2), but not quite as tall as the ones made with regular unbleached flour (#1).  These are my favorite so far, with the added butter flavor, but I tend to like a taller biscuit, so I will to continue to experiment!

Buttermilk Biscuits #3

makes about 14 biscuits

Ingredients

• 5 cups White Lily flour, sifted before measuring
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup shortening, chilled
• 1/2 cup butter, chilled
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, chilled
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

• Preheat oven to 485 degrees.
• Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Cut in the shortening and butter with a pastry blender until it is in pieces the size of large peas.
• Stir in the buttermilk with a fork until the dough starts to come together. Using your hands, knead the dough to incorporate all the flour. The dough should be sticky; add more buttermilk if it is too dry.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and fold over itself 3 or 4 times to make layers.
• Roll out dough with a floured rolling pin to 3/4 inch thickness, or pat with hands.
• Cut out rounds of dough with a 3 inch biscuit cutter (don’t twist!) and place on a baking sheet so they almost touch.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown, checking about halfway to rotate pan.
• Brush biscuits with melted butter right after removing from the oven. Serve hot.

Okay, are y’all ready for some more biscuits?

This is the second batch I made in my ongoing quest for the perfect buttermilk biscuit.  You can find Batch Number One, made with unbleached all-purpose flour and shortening here.  Batch Number Two was made with bleached, enriched flour and shortening, and actually turned into sub-batch a & b (how disturbingly obsessive is this?).

For these, I bought some White Lily flour, which is an enriched bleached flour that has lower protein and gluten than regular all-purpose.  This makes the flour finer, whiter, and silkier and gives biscuits a softer texture.  I had not used White Lily before so I wanted to try it, since it’s the most talked about flour surrounding biscuit making in the South.

Here’s a little confession – I like to try new things, but only if it’s my idea.  I had heard the hype about White Lily flour, but I grew up with Red Band and just couldn’t believe it was all that much better.  (Some people might call that stubborn, I just call it old-fashioned.)  But I finally came around and decided it was time to try it.

The reason I ended up with ‘sub-batches’ is because I wanted to try not sifting the flour vs sifting it.  And that’s just because, well, I’d rather not sift if I can get away with it.

So, the ones I made first in Batch Two (pictured above) weren’t sifted.  They had a softer texture and were lighter than Batch One made with unbleached all-purpose, and were flakier, but didn’t rise quite as high.  When I made Batch Two again (pictured below), I sifted the flour and got much better results – higher, lighter and even flakier.

What I’ve learned so far is:  1) bleached flour (White Lily) gives a lighter, softer, and fluffier biscuit texture, 2) if using a soft bleached flour, sifting is essential, and 3) make sure your dough is still pretty sticky, so the biscuits don’t end up too dry and crumbly.

Buttermilk Biscuits #2

makes about 14 biscuits

Ingredients

• 5 cups White Lily flour, sifted before measuring
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup shortening, chilled
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, chilled
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

• Preheat oven to 485 degrees.
• Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until it is in pieces the size of large peas.
• Stir in the buttermilk with a fork until the dough starts to come together. Using your hands, knead the dough to incorporate all the flour. The dough should be sticky; add more buttermilk if it is too dry.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and fold over itself 3 or 4 times to make layers.
• Roll out dough with a floured rolling pin to 3/4 inch thickness, or pat with hands.
• Cut out rounds of dough with a 3 inch biscuit cutter (don’t twist!) and place on a baking sheet so they almost touch.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown, checking about halfway to rotate pan.
• Brush biscuits with melted butter right after removing from the oven. Serve hot.

Next on the list – White Lily with half shortening and half butter.  I’ll let you know how it goes!