Makes 9 large
biscuits
Recipe from Cook’s
Illustrated Magazine
Husband-Tested
in Alice’s Kitchen with Marimar
My
daughter-in-law, Marimar, loves to make biscuits when the family comes to
visit. She wanted to test this recipe herself. Boy, these were
spectacular!!
3 cups King
Arthur all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons
sugar
4 teaspoons
baking powder
½ teaspoon
baking soda
1½ teaspoons
salt
16 tablespoons
(2 sticks) unsalted butter, frozen for 30 minutes
1¼ cups
buttermilk, chilled
1. Line rimmed
baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Whisk our, sugar, baking
powder, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl. Coat sticks of butter in
the flour mixture, and then grate 7 tablespoons from each stick on large holes
of box grater directly into our mixture. Toss gently to combine. Set aside
remaining 2 tablespoons butter.
2. Add
buttermilk to our mixture and fold with spatula until just combined (dough will
look dry). Transfer dough to liberally floured counter. Dust surface of dough
with our; using your floured hands, press dough into rough 7-inch square.
3. Roll dough
into 12 by 9-inch rectangle with short side parallel to edge of counter.
Starting at bottom of dough, fold into thirds like business letter, using bench
scraper or metal spatula to release dough from counter. Press top of dough
firmly to seal folds. Turn dough 90 degrees clockwise. Repeat rolling into 12
by 9-inch rectangle, folding into thirds, and turning clockwise 4 more times,
for total of 5 sets of folds. After last set of folds, roll dough into 8½ -inch
square about 1 inch thick. Transfer dough to prepared sheet, cover with plastic
wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position
and heat oven to 400 degrees F.
4. Transfer dough to lightly floured
cutting board. Using sharp, floured chef’s knife, trim 1/4 inch of dough from
each side of square and discard. Cut remaining dough into 9 squares, flouring
knife after each cut. Arrange biscuits at least 1 inch apart on sheet. Melt reserved
butter; brush tops of biscuits with melted butter.
5. Bake until tops are golden brown,
22 to 25 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Transfer biscuits to
wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes before serving.
*Use sticks of butter. In hot or humid environments, chill the
flour mixture, grater, and work bowls before use. The dough will start out very
crumbly and dry in pockets but will be smooth by the end of the folding
process; do not be tempted to add extra buttermilk. Flour the counter and the
top of the dough as needed to prevent sticking, but be careful not to
incorporate large pockets of flour into the dough when folding.
