I have to start out by saying that bread is one of my favorite things to eat. I’m not sure if it is the texture, the warmth, the nostalgic feelings it evokes, or just the fact that I can eat butter or clotted cream with it. I love bread – all sorts. Over the years I have made various types of bread that I have come to be very happy with the outcome of, some that I used to make well, but not so much anymore, and others that still elude me. I will try my hardest to share some of the things I’ve learned along the way, as well as recipes and techniques. I will also be sure to tell you when I have found a great bakery!
Let’s start with biscuits! Why biscuits you say – well I am a southern girl after all and my mother makes amazing biscuits. But, like many good southern cooks – she puts a little of this, a dab of that, and a scant of something else. No recipe, just by touch. She made them so often that she knew how the dough should feel and she could make them blindfolded. Me, well I will admit, I could not get the hang of it.
I needed a recipe. Actually I tried several recipes over the years with little success. Well little success for what I was looking for. I like a biscuit that is light and fluffy, but not doughy. And I like the outside to be a bit crunchy, but not dry. I tend to prefer a bigger (higher rising biscuit) as well. You know just the perfect biscuit. (Those of you from the South will understand this.) I must admit that a good friend of mine who I consider to be an exceptional bread maker shared her recipe for biscuits with me. It was a Martha Stewart recipe that I had had for some time, but never tried. Now I know some of you may be saying “Oh, Martha…”, but I’m telling you that woman knows just about everything, and if she doesn’t she knows where to find out. So I will confess proudly that I have several of her cookbooks.
Below is the recipe taken from the webpage Martha Stewart Recipes where she also has a video demonstration of making the biscuits:
- Yield Makes 1 dozen
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk, plus more for brushing
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few large clumps remaining.
- Pour in the buttermilk; using a rubber spatula, fold buttermilk into the dough, working in all directions and incorporating crumbs at the bottom of the bowl, until the dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky; do not overmix.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured fingers, gently pat the dough into a round about 1 inch thick, pressing in any loose bits. Do not overwork the dough. Use a floured 2 1/4-inch round biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits as close together as possible. (Use one cut edge as the edge for the next biscuit.)
- Place the biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart on an unlined baking sheet. Generously brush the tops of biscuits with buttermilk. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until the biscuits are golden and flecked with brown spots, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer biscuits to a wire rack to cool.
These are drop biscuits vs. cut biscuits. To do that, instead of patting out the dough and cutting it with the biscuit cutter, use two large spoons. One to scoop out a heaping spoonful and the other to push the dough off the spoon onto the baking sheet.
