I will be making my biscuits this way from now on. Just look at these layers! What’s the secret? Laminating the dough by folding it over on itself business-letter style a few times which creates many very thin layers of butter, much like making croissant or puff pastry dough.
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan (Baking from My Home to Yours), Julia Child’s cooking show featuring Leah Chase of Dookie Chase New Orleans (Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs), and Cook’s Illustrated for the folding technique (Sept & October 2015).
Quick butter reference (because it seems I’m always looking this up):
- 4 Tablespoons of butter = 2 oz. = 1/4 cup
- 6 Tablespoons of butter = 3 oz.
- 8 Tablespoons of butter = 4 oz. = 1/2 cup
- 12 Tablespoons of butter = 6 oz. = 3/4 cup
- 16 Tablespoons of butter = 8 oz. = 1 cup
Biscuits
makes 12; adapted from Julia Child, Dorie Greenspan, and Cook's Illustrated
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter very cold and cut into small pieces
- 1 cup whole milk or cream
Instructions
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Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and using your fingers or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until pea-sized pieces remain.
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Pour the milk/cream over the flour mixture and using a fork, stir into a shaggy dough. Dump onto lightly floured surface and pat into a rectangle, approximately 12- by 9-inches.
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Starting from the short side and using a bench scraper to lift the dough, fold the dough rectangle into thirds like a letter. Turn the dough 90 degrees. Using a rolling pin, roll back out into the 12x9 rectangle. Repeat the folding and rolling process four more times, for a total of 5 folds, and end with shaping the dough into an approximate square, about 1-inch thick.
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Transfer dough to a plate or small sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425º F.
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Remove dough square from refrigerator to lightly floured cutting board. Using a sharp, floured chefs knife, trim 1/4-inch of dough from each side of the square (this gives clean edges to each biscuit, allowing them to rise up while baking, instead of toppling sideways). I bake these pieces on the same sheet pan as the biscuits instead of discarding, as they are perfectly tasty—chef's treat!
Cut remaining dough into 12 squares, flouring the knife after each cut. Arrange biscuits at least 1-inch apart on a sheet pan lined with parchment or a Silpat. Bake until tops are golden brown, 15–20 minutes.
