After many a biscuit attempt (dropped and cut), I think I've found the winner of recipes. Enter Cook's Illustrated, with not their Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits recipe, but instead their Ultimate Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits recipe. True to the title, it produced an "ultimate" biscuit – super buttery, great texture, and beautiful coloring. I brought these to a summer barbecue (not exactly barbecue fare), but they flew like hotcakes even while room temperature.
These biscuits need no accompaniment – their flavor is perfect as is. I may hold many brunches these fall just to have the excuse to make them weekly 🙂
I followed the CI recipe exactly. First, I faux-sifted the dry ingredients with a fork (ok, so maybe I didn't follow the recipe exactly). And then I added grated, frozen butter – a technique CI calls for in scones, which leads to fantastic results as well.
After adding the buttermilk to the dough, I then started the five rolling and folding processes to get those flaky layers. True to the CI recipe description, with each roll and fold, the dough got smoother and smoother.
I then let the dough rest for 30 minutes in the fridge before cutting. CI described that approach as helping the biscuits stay upright, and not falling over, in the oven.
And then cutting and to the oven the biscuits went – check out those nascent raw layers!
Out of the oven, sheer perfection. Great layers, great color, and unparalleled flavor. I may need to get up at 5am tomorrow to make them before work tomorrow – that's how wonderful my memory of these biscuits is!
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