Pillowy-Soft Biscuits

Biscuits are a Southern delicacy. Top them with apple butter, preserves, bacon, sausage, eggs, cheese, fried chicken filets…the list goes on. They are the perfect vessel to hold so much goodness.

In our house I proclaim my husband to be the Biscuit King. His method of rolling and folding the dough yields consistently beautiful biscuits. I’ve been watching his technique for a few years and recently merged it with my go-to biscuit recipe. The results – the golden gems you see in the photo above.

These biscuits come together in a flash. If you have a food processor (I use my Ninja), use it. It will save you time and ensure that your butter is evenly distributed throughout the dough. No food processor? No worries! I’ve added a note at the end of the recipe for how to make the dough without one. I also encourage you to bake these in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet (which if you don’t have one, add it to your Christmas/Holiday/Wedding/House-Warming registry list…you need this in your kitchen!).

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Fill free to double it if you’re baking for a crowd. Our large biscuit cutter only makes six of these gems, perfect for each family member to have one. Get your favorite biscuit toppings ready! Let me know what you think of these by leaving a comment below.

Pillowy-Soft Biscuits

Servings: 6 very large biscuits
Prep/cooking time: ~ 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cold whole milk + 2 tbsp vinegar (*Note – feel free to use buttermilk instead. I don’t always have it in the house and have found that the vinegar trick works just fine for these. The ratio of vinegar to milk in this recipe makes the biscuits a little more flavorful, perhaps even more flavorful than real buttermilk.)
• 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour + additional for flouring your workspace (you’ll need it for rolling out your dough)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp granulated white sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• Sprinkle of ground black pepper (just a touch!)
• 6 tbsp frozen unsalted butter, cubed (use a sharp knife to cube the butter, just be careful!)
• 2 tbsp melted butter (for brushing at the end)

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a liquid measuring cup, mix together the milk and the vinegar. Set aside.
3. In a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, black pepper, and cubed butter. Pulse until well combined and no large chunks of butter remain. The mixture should have crumbles no larger than pea-size (or as small as coarse sand). *Note – If you’re not making these with a food processor, please read the tips at the bottom of the recipe.
4. Add the milk/vinegar mixture to the food processor. Continue to pulse until the dough comes together and all ingredients are well incorporated (there should be no dry patches of flour).
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured workspace. Using a rolling pin, gently roll out the dough to 1/4 inch in thick. Fold the dough in half and gently roll it out again making it just a bit thicker this time (about 1/2 inch). Fold the dough in half again and continue the rolling and folding process at least 3 additional times. On the final roll, increase the thickness of the dough to 1 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out as many biscuits from the dough as you can. *Note – make sure to use an up-and-down cutting motion and do not twist the cutter to cut the dough. You’ll need to roll and fold the dough a few more times after cutting out the first couple of biscuits, continuing to cut out as many biscuits as you can each time and maintaining the 1 inch thickness.
6. Place each biscuit cutout into a cast iron skillet, letting each biscuit touch just a bit (feel free to use a cookie sheet if don’t have a cast iron skillet, just make sure it’s in good condition!). Bake the biscuits for about 15-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Brush immediately with warm melted butter. Remove from pan and serve warm. Enjoy!

*Tips for making these without a food processor:

To make these without a food processor, just mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl, then use a cheese grater to grate the butter into the dry mix. Alternatively (for the butter), you could just cube very cold (not frozen) butter and cut it into the dry mix with two knives, aiming for pea-size crumbles once thoroughly mixed. Add in the milk, then mix with a sturdy spoon until combined (try to avoid mixing with your hands as much as possible, as the heat from your hands will melt the butter during the mixing process). This should produce the same results. I just recently used the Ninja to make these and thought – why haven’t I been doing this all along?!?