Biscuits are one of those foods that we’ve somehow convinced ourselves we can’t make from scratch, that we need either an insta-pop tin full of doughy chemicals or a southern grandmother at the ready. The very idea of “made from scratch biscuits” conjures thoughts of kneading and a kitchen dusted in flour, something we’re all far too busy to attempt on our own, here’s a dough boy to the rescue. Nonsense - they are made from a few simple ingredients, very little actual work, and you don’t even really need any special equipment.
The recipe I use isn’t really a recipe at all but a ratio that comes from Michael Ruhlman’s truly excellent and transformative book called, appropriately, Ratio. I’ll have plenty more to say about Ratio in a later post but if you’re looking to know more about the craft of cooking and aren’t just content to follow instructions, buy this book. Ruhlman’s ratio couldn’t be simpler — 3 parts flour, 1 part fat, 2 parts liquid, with a little salt and baking powder to add flavor and leavening, respectively. The only tricky bit when using ratios is that you really do need to measure your ingredients by weight, which requires a scale, not volume, which you’re likely more used to. Here are the ingredients for enough biscuits for four people with some approximate volumes:
- 9 ounces of flour (about 2 cups)
- 3 ounces of butter, chilled (about 6 tablespoons)
- 6 ounces of milk or buttermilk (about ¾ cup)
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
Chances are you’ve got all of that in your pantry already. The key to good biscuits, with lots of flaky layers, is to keep the butter cold and not over work it. I usually measure mine, slice it into ½” cubes then put it in the freezer for ten minutes or so.
Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl. Add the cubed butter and stir to coat with flour. Now, you need to combine the butter with flour so that it’s, essentially, suspended in the flour. You can use two knives scissoring across one another, a dough blender (make sure to get any butter left between the blades) or, most conveniently, by quickly rubbing the butter with your fingers. Combine until the largest bits of butter are about pea-sized. Add the milk and stir until just combined — don’t overwork the dough and don’t overheat it. Form the dough into a rectangle about a half inch thick, then wrap in plastic and store in the refrigerator for an hour.
On a floured surface, roll out the dough until it’s about three times the size -maintaining the basic rectangle shape - and then fold the dough on itself in thirds and roll it out again. This is where the magic happens — the layering will create lots of layers of butter solids that will release their water during baking, helping to create a flaky biscuit. Fold the dough into thirds one more time and refrigerate again until chilled (if you’ve got time) or roll it out to about ½” thick and cut your biscuits. Squares are easy at this point; rounds using an inverted glass are nice and let you combine the scraps into one of my personal favorite pastries, the ugly biscuit.
I like to scramble a single egg and lightly brush the top of the biscuits to help create a sheen, but this isn’t necessary. Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 for 20-25 minutes. Leftovers, if you have any, are fantastic the next day for breakfast, toasted quickly under the broiler and spread thick with jam or marmalade.
For savory biscuits, I like to add a little cheese or some fresh herbs. Fold grated cheddar with diced jalapeño peppers or parmesan with sage or parsley into the layering stage.
