These all-butter angel biscuits are the best of both worlds. A little chewy like bread and tender and flaky like biscuits.The use of both yeast and baking powder almost ensures a fantastic rise, too.
25ozall-purpose flourabout 5 1/2 cups or 709 grams
3Tablespoonsgranulated sugar40 grams
1Tablespoonbaking powder
1 ½teaspoonsfine sea salt
1teaspoonbaking soda
6ozcold unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces1 1/2 sticks
Instructions
Heat oven to 425F and set a rack in the center of the oven.
Combine yeast and water in a bowl. Whisk well to combine and let sit for 5 minutes.
Whisk in the buttermilk. Set aside.
In a very large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the largest pieces of butter are the size of peas.
Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the buttermilk/yeast mixture.
Mix gently with a clean hand until the dough is very shaggy but more or less in one mass.
Turn out onto a well-floured surface. Flour the top of the dough and pat into a rough rectangle with your hands.
Gently roll out until the dough is about 1/2" thick.
Use your bench knife to scrape under half the dough and fold it over on itself. It will be pretty ragged, but it will shape up with each additional turn.
Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat the rolling and folding 5 more times.
Roll the dough into a fairly even rectangle about 1/2"-3/4" high.
You can cut round biscuits, but I find there is less waste if I just use my bench knife to cut square biscuits.
Trim off the folded or irregular ends of the biscuits. You can certainly leave them on, but those edge biscuits won't rise evenly and will be sort of funny looking. They'll still taste good though, so it's your call.
Cut the remaining rectangle of dough into biscuits of whatever size you want. I was able to get 20.
Arrange on a parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheet about an inch apart.
Cover and let sit out for about an hour and a half.
Place your biscuits in the freezer for an hour to firm up the butter. This will ensure the highest rise possible.
Brush tops with buttermilk and bake for about 10 minutes, or until deep golden brown on top. If your oven bakes unevenly, rotate the pan after 5 minutes.
Serve hot or warm.
Allow leftovers to cool completely, and the freeze them in airtight freezer bags for up to 2 months.
Notes
HOW TO AVOID “SECOND ROLL” BISCUITS
Most biscuit recipes tell you to roll or pat out your dough, cut rounds as close together as you can, then re-roll the scraps. These recipes come right out and tell you that these “second roll” biscuits won’t rise as high or be as tender as your first rolls.PRO TIP: For next to zero waste and no “second roll” inferior biscuits, cut biscuits into squares with your bench knife.
Need a Smaller Batch
This recipe is very easily halved. I ended up with 9 biscuits from the half recipe.Original, handwritten recipe found on RecipeCurio.com