Buttermilk Biscuits

Yield: About 12 biscuits

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 3 cups (450g) all purpose flour

• 1.5 tablespoons (23g) granulated sugar

• 1.5 tablespoons (23g) baking powder 

• 1 teaspoon (5g) garlic powder

• 2 teaspoons (10g) fine sea salt 

• ¾ cup (168g) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes 

• 1¼ cup (296ml) buttermilk, plus more for brushing

• 8 ounces (224g) sharp cheddar cheese, grated and very cold

Garlic Butter Topping: 

• ¼ cup (56g) salted butter, melted 

• 1 large cloves garlic, minced

Method: 

1. Preheat your oven to 425°F (218°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl or a food processor, add your dry ingredients and pulse until thoroughly combined. Add your butter and lightly pulse a few times until you get large pea sized balls of butter (Alternatively, you can do this in a large mixing bowl using a pastry cutter or two forks to break down the butter into the flour). 

3. Transfer the contents of the food processor into a large mixing bowl and using only a fork, mix in your cheese and then add your buttermilk and mix with your fork until a rough, crumbly cohesive dough has formed. If the mixture seems too dry, add buttermilk one tablespoon at a time, until the dough begins to come together a bit more. Generally, this is a drier dough so be cautious not to add so much liquid that the dough becomes tacky. 

4. Turn your dough onto your work surface and using a bench scraper, bring it together into one mass.  Try to touch it with your hands as little as possible so as not to melt the butter, use your bench scraper and rolling pin during this time to avoid doing so.  Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10x14 inch rectangle. Flour your dough as needed to prevent sticking. Using your bench scraper, fold the short sides of the dough over the center into thirds like folding a letter, overlapping one side over the other. Rotate 90 degrees, fold like a letter once more, and roll your dough out one final time keeping the final rectangle at least 1-inch thick. Do not roll your dough too thin or your biscuits will have no height.  Repeat the rolling-folding process a third time. Your dough should come together by now, but if it’s still crumbly, repeat the folding and rolling process one final time.  

5. Using a 3-3 1/2” inch biscuit cutter, punch out your biscuits by pushing straight down without twisting your cutter. Bring any scraps together, roll back out to 1-inch thick, and repeat until all the dough has been used.  Place your biscuits on your baking sheet evenly spaced, and lightly brush the top of each biscuit with buttermilk. Bake for 15-18 minutes until the tops of the biscuits are a nice deep golden brown. 

6. While the biscuits are baking, optionally you can make your garlic butter topping by melting your salted butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat. As soon as the butter is melted, cut off the heat and stir in your garlic.

7. As soon as the biscuits come out of the oven, brush each one with your garlic butter and allow to cool on a wire rack before serving. If you wish to serve the biscuits later in the day, you can reheat in an oven set to low.