There is no one perfect buttermilk biscuit recipe. However, many recipes for buttermilk biscuits call for flour, baking powder, salt, butter, and buttermilk. Some recipes also include sugar, baking soda, and/or shortening.
Place shortening in small plastic food bag.
Flatten shorteningbetween plastic sheets so it is thin and return to freezer.
Thisallows shortening to become hard enough to break, into tiny pieceswhen added to dry ingredients.
Tear 2 pieces wax paper about 15 inches long and place on counter,Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt onto waxpaper.
Place empty sifter on top of bare sheet of wax paper, liftsheet of wax paper holding sifted dry ingredients by sides and pourthrough sifter, sifting onto bare wax paper.
Sift back and forth 3times, then sift once more into large mixing bowl.
Remove shortening from freezer.
Cut into small bits, about 1/4-inchsquare.
Drop shortening bits into bowl of dry ingredients and,using fingertips, lightly rub shortening and flour together,occasionally tossing flour mixture so you touch all particles ofshortening with flour.
When mixture has bits of flour-coveredshortening throughout, begin adding buttermilk.
Using fork, addbuttermilk, lightly stirring to mix with dry ingredients.
Cover board or surface with dusting of flour.
Gather sticky mass ofdough and place on floured surface.
Dust hands with flour andgently knead dough, adding enough flour only to make doughmanageable.
Pat dough with hands or roll with floured rolling pininto round 1/2-inch thick.
Using 2-inch cutter, cut out biscuits andplace touching each other in 3 rows, in center of greased bakingsheet.
Place on middle rack of 425-degree oven and bake 12 minutes,or until lightly golden.
Remove from oven and serve hot or warm.
Makes 19 (2-inch round) biscuits.
NOTE::By Marion CunninghamThanks to Eula Mae Dore, a great Southern cook from AveryPlantation, La.
, I've learned to make the best Buttermilk BiscuitsI've ever had.
Eula Mae says a good biscuit is one of the best things to have onhand for quick meals.
She uses them in emergencies to make simplesandwiches filled with scraps of ham or cheese and serves them withpickles and a small salad.
For dessert, she warms a biscuit or twoand makes a shortcake with fresh fruits or berries.
She has convincedme that you can't have too many biscuits on hand.
Eula Mae learned to cook and bake from her grandmother, not fromcookbooks, and the artfulness of her preparation was a joy to watch.
Here are some of her biscuit-making tips: First go out and replace your baking powder, unless you bought itwithin the last four months.
More baking flops occur from old,tired baking powder than from any other cause.
And don't rely onthe old test of checking the freshness of baking powder by putting aspoonful in a glass of water to see if it fizzes.
Baking powder, likea carbonated drink, can fizz a little and still be almost flat.
Buying new baking powder costs very little when you consider the costof baking failures.
Next, Eula Mae insists that sifting the dry ingredients four timesis the reason her biscuits are perfect.
I tested the recipe siftingand not sifting and, indeed, sifting does make a slightly higher,more tender biscuit.
After you cut the biscuit dough, put the pieces on a baking sheetupside down.
This ensures a taller, lighter biscuit by making sureany edges crimped by the pressure of the cutting don't interferewith the rise.
(The French use the same trick when making puffpastry.
) The tip that helped me the most was using less flour than usual.
Eula Mae's dough was soft and sticky.
She handled it gently, dustingher hands and the dough with only enough flour to make thedough manageable.
The result was a lighter biscuit.