BASIC BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

By bjnelson55

From Test Kitchens, Cuisine at Home

Ingredients

• WHISK:
• 1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 ⁄2 tsp. table salt
• 1 ⁄4 tsp. baking soda
• PULSE:
• 1 1⁄2 cups cake flour
• 5 Tbsp. cold vegetable shortening, cubed
• 4 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 1⁄4 cups buttermilk
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Details

Servings 10

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 450°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a bowl; set aside.

Pulse cake flour, shortening, and cubed butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until fats are pea-sized flakes. Mix in all-purpose flour mixture just until blended. Add buttermilk to dry ingredients and mix just until moistened.

1. Mix dough until ingredients are wet, then knead and pat into a circle to finish combining dough.

2. Pull cutter up, without twisting, as you remove. Twisting results in jagged edges on the biscuits.

NOTE:
To avoid overmixing this dough, stop when the ingredients are just moistened. Even though the dough is wet, don’t add more flour — that only leads to overmixing.