Aiming for crusty, fluffy and flaky, all at the same time!
Ever since I first read about American ‘Southern style’ buttermilk biscuits I have been intrigued by them. First there was confusion because of the word biscuit. In the UK a biscuit is a cookie (the word cookie, comes from our Dutch word ‘koekje’ and was adopted in the US centuries ago). But wait, this biscuit looks like what the British like to call a scone. And the Americans do not seem to eat it with jam and cream, but rather like to serve them with something they call gravy, but it does not look like the stuff we recognize as such! Confused? Just check out this wiki page if you want to brush up on your cookie/biscuit history.
I also tried a biscuit version with oil, but I did not like it that much, even when using an oil that is very mild in taste. Like most people, I just love the taste of butter, no shortening, no lard, just real butter. Next to that, I would say these biscuits go with just about everything, sweet or savory. You decide! We especially like it with a bowl of homemade tomato soup.
I am not ready with these biscuits yet. There are many schools of biscuit making that teach different ways. I am sure there are more biscuit making methods and recipes out there worth the effort and equally delicious.
Ingredients for the Biscuits
makes about 12
350 g pastry flour or all purpose flour or a combination (we use French Type 45 & 55)
7 g salt
12 g baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
15 g sugar or honey
115 g cold butter in cubes
about 220 ml buttermilk
butter for brushing tops (optional)
Making the Biscuits
This recipe will yield about 12 biscuits (in the pictures I used a double batch of the recipe, making 24 biscuits in total), depending on the size of your cutter. The cutter I use is a 6 x 6 cm /2.36 x 2.36 inch square or a round shape with a 6 cm diameter.
In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Add the cold butter in cubes and very coarsely rub it into the flour, making sure there are still plenty of pea size morsels of butter in the mixture. Be brave!
Now add 150 ml of the buttermilk, stir with the back of a kitchen knife until it just comes together. Take a look at the consistency, the dough should come automatically together while stirring, without kneading, and there should be no crumbs left on the bottom of the bowl. Add more buttermilk to absorb all the morsels and crumbs until you have a shaggy mass. I normally end up using all the buttermilk. Mind you, it needs to be sticky to ensure the light consistency of the biscuit. Kneading or too much fumbling will make your biscuits tough and will brake down the morsels of butter in the dough. We do not want that to happen so stop fumbling!
Turn the dough out on a floured work surface. With floured hands, gently pat the dough into a rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds, letter style. The folding is done to give the biscuits a more flaky texture. Like I said before, the dough is sticky so it is a good idea to use a plastic scraper to lift and fold the dough. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and again shape the dough into a rectangle and fold into thirds. Now again pat the dough into a rectangle making sure it is about about 2.5 cm / 1 inch thick.
Preheat your oven to 230ºC / 445ºF.
Now you can brush the tops of the biscuits with butter if you like. Put the tray in the oven. The biscuits take about 14 to 16 minutes of baking. You can rotate them after about 8 minutes to get a more even bake. Keep a close eye on them, they should be pale to golden brown in color. Remove from the oven and serve warm.
Cut out round or square shapes, whatever you like best. Put them on a lined baking tray. You can put them close together so that the sides are touching and stay soft or leave some space between them for crusty sides. Cover the biscuits with floured clingfilm and leave to relax (not you, but the gluten!) for about 15 minutes.
We use type 45 and 55 French flour for these biscuits. You can also experiment with a combination of all purpose and pastry flour or cake flour. Using only type 45 flour makes them particularly light and fluffy. Using the right kind of flour can make a huge difference for your end result.
We use our own home made baking powder. You can find our formula for baking powder and self raising flour here.
Space between the biscuits means crusty sides, putting them close together will result in soft sides. I like crusty, because of the contrast with the soft and fluffy crumb.
You can keep these biscuits warm for longer if you wrap them in a tea towel after baking.
You can also leave them to cool on a rack and store them in the freezer where they will keep for may weeks. You can thaw them and give them a quick pick me up in the oven. What I like to do is to cut them in half and lightly toast them in the toaster so the edges are slightly crispy and the inside is soft and warm.
Like I said, these biscuits will probably go with just about anything. And although there is plenty of butter in them, that does not mean they wont get even better with more butter!
Hi Ed and Marke,
As a Yank and quite familiar with biscuits, I think you have done quite well with these. I am not sure of the French flour you speak of, but in the South (USA) they use a flour with only 9.5% gluten/protein content. Good biscuits require very little handling so there is very little gluten development so they stay soft and moist. From the looks here, yours look bang on.
We do eat them with honey or jam/preserves also, as with a scone, and is my preferred way of eating biscuits. Some of the fast food chains make, IMHO, a pretty tasty breakfast sandwich out of them. Really about the only thing I will eat at one.
Good show.
Jay
Hello Jay,
Thank you so much. This means a lot to me. It is hard to determine the authenticity of a recipe and to know how it is intended by the people who are really in the know. The French type 45 flour has a protein content that is close to 9.5%, as close as you can get probably to the flour you use in the US. On the web people talk about White Lily flour, especially the self-rising flour, that seems to be the best or most authentic for making biscuits. It is made with ‘soft winter wheat’ according to their own website.
Good to hear how you prefer to eat your biscuits. It was sort of a surprise to hear about people eating them with savory food (but it turned out we like it too). When I look at the pictures of what people describe as ‘gravy’ I am very intrigued. It looks like a French roux based sauce with filling (in Holland we call this ‘ragout’ to add to the confusion) while our gravy is a thick brown sauce mostly made with meat juices. You can see how they are all connected but, together with the people, took different routes to get where they are today.
Thank again for your addition and happy baking,
Marieke
I want to echo Jay’s praise. As an American who grew up on American biscuits and makes them regularly, you’ve done quite well. I would even say, you’ve done better than most Americans! Your handling appears quite deft – a good pastry baker’s touch, which makes for good biscuits.
In the States these biscuits are a hallmark in our southern cuisine, where quick breads dominate. Soft wheat flour is highly preferred, and While Lily is the go to brand. Self rising just makes it a bit simpler easier as it takes care of all the leavening. I prefer butter to veg shortening, but I still believe the very best biscuits are made from lard (rendered pork fat). In the south they are used and eaten as a general bread, and yes the “gravy” with biscuits is quite popular. You have judged the gravy well – basically it is a well seasoned bechamel, to which generally has been added cooked American breakfast sausage (for which I don’t think there is anything similar in the Netherlands, but I can send you a recipe for making your own if you are so inclined). Purist will actually use the fat rendered from the sausage, rather than butter, to build the roux. Another common application is the “sausage biscuit” in which a warm biscuit is filled with a grilled breakfast sausage patty – think of it as the American breakfast version of a hamburger. My personal favorite is to take them very fresh out of the oven, split, top each half with butter so that it melts, then drizzle on the honey.
I am curious about your citation of buttermilk. Is that karnemelk in The Netherlands ?
Hello EB,
.
Praise indeed! I am blushing over here. As I make the biscuits more often I get the feeling I understand them better and better. But as for the lard, that is a bit of a challenge for us. This has much to do with the fact that you cannot walk into a supermarket in Holland and buy it. You will not find it there. Some butchers might have it or you have to make it yourself.
In Holland it is called ‘reuzel’ and it is very much associated with parents and grandparents. My own father told me how he loved a sandwich with lard and sugar when he was young (and the membranes/tissue that was left was called ‘kaantjes’, baked crispy and eaten with ‘stroop’ . So for us eating lard became something that people ‘used to do’ . There are also negative connotations nowadays surrounding ‘hard’ animal fat and people are encouraged to buy liquid vegetable fat /oil. That does not mean we do not understand it can be very good and very tasty! Sometimes the things that are branded bad for you can also be good for you in many other ways
And yes, on that note, we would love to learn more about the breakfast sausage!
You are right, by buttermilk we mean karnemelk. The stuff that is left after churning (karnen) butter. It is very low in fat, almost the opposite of lard, and we also like to drink it with a bit of (limonade) sirup or with orange juice.
Hope you have a lovely Sunday and thanks again for sharing!
Marieke
“Sometimes the things that are branded bad for you can also be good for you in many other ways.”
When it comes to food I believe in the mantra, there are no good or bad foods, but there are good and bad quantities for all foods.
I could not agree more! (I remember having to tell some people that yes, olive oil is good for you, but it is not the more the better, you should not drink bottles of the stuff…)
Hi Ed & Marike: I am not in the least bit surprised at the fantastic outcome of your southern biscuits. The height and separation of the flaky layers are indeed outstanding. Excellent job.!
Ann F
Texas
Hello Ann,
Thank you so much! The only thing left to be done now is actually visit a Southern State and see how they compare. Hope to do that one day…
Happy baking,
Marieke
I am loving your website. I’ve been enjoying learning about bread with your recipes.
I love biscuits. I like them alone, with coffee, butter, jam, gravy. I LOVE them with fried eggs, cheddar cheese, and bacon as a breakfast sandwich. My favorite way to make biscuits is chicken and dumplings. My grandmother’s recipe was similar to this one, without the herbs. Unfortunately, they don’t reheat well so have a few friends over to eat them right away.
Hello HP,
Thanks! We keep some biscuits in the freezer, defrost them quickly (microwave) and put two halves in the bread toaster. It is not the same as fresh but still very tasty.
Happy biscuit and bread baking!
Oops, I meant to put in the link for chicken and dumplings, dumplings are delicious but don’t reheat well. Biscuits stay fresh for a few days.
Aha, I understand. We call it chicken ragout (without the dumplings that is, we have never made them but they sound delicious and comforting).