We took the formula for a roll-out buttermilk biscuit one step further and threw in a flaky twist. A quick brush with buttermilk and a tri-fold of the dough creates light layers in this golden biscuit, making it perfect to split open and butter. Find helpful techniques and more biscuit recipes in our 2018 May/June Southern Issue, here.
Roll-Out Biscuits
Makes 12
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups (220 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1¾ cups (220 grams) cake flour
- 2 tablespoons (24 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) baking powder
- 1 tablespoon (9 grams) kosher salt
- 1¼ cups (284 grams) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 cup (240 grams) cold whole buttermilk
- 1 large egg (50 grams), lightly beaten
- Flaked sea salt, for sprinkling
- Softened butter and honey, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, and kosher salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 forks, cut in cold butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir in cold buttermilk until a shaggy dough forms.
- Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat dough into a rectangle, and cut into fourths. Stack each fourth on top of each other, and pat down into a rectangle. Repeat procedure 3 times. Pat or roll dough to 1-inch thickness. Using a 2½-inch round cutter dipped in flour, cut dough without twisting cutter, rerolling scraps as necessary. Place biscuits 2 inches apart on prepared pan. Freeze until cold, about 40 minutes to an hour.
- Brush biscuits with egg, and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve warm with softened butter and honey.
I have made these biscuits twice now and they are delish. They spread out wide while baking. I do follow the directions and fridge them for 30 minutes before baking. Cant figure out why the spreading.
Hey Pat, sorry to hear your biscuits are spreading too much! You could try placing the biscuits closer together. They’ll probably end up touching and you’ll have to pull them apart, but they should be tall and fluffy by baking around each other. One other issue you might be having is that you might be over incorporating your butter. Try keeping the butter a little bit chunkier when snapping it in or using your food processor, so that the butter won’t melt so quickly when you pop it in the oven. We hope this helps! Happy Baking!
how do you fold the dough into thirds?
Hi Zaya!
Thanks for reaching out. You will want to fold the dough into thirds, as you would a letter. Take the left third and fold it over the middle third, then take the right third and fold it on top. Hope this helps!
I’ve never seen cake flour in a biscuit recipe before. Can you explain what the cake flour does?
Hi Amari,
Great question! Cake flour has around 7-9% protein, whereas all-purpose has close to 10-12%. We added cake flour to reduce the protein content of these biscuits, leading to a more tender crumb. I hope this helps!