So I really wasn’t planning on sharing this recipe, since it was a spur of the moment cook for company recipe… but I HAVE to. These were personally the best biscuits I’ve ever made (even though I haven’t made THAT many). Rocky even approved! This recipe is from a food scientist and baking expert Shirley Corriher, and you can tell she knows what she’s doing.
I found this recipe in Food52’s new Cookbook Genius Recipes (once again). I’m telling you this book is amazing! So far I’ve made three recipes from it, and I’ve had to share EVERY one! Can’t wait to try out some more.
It’s late and I’ve been busy this week working and packing for Tomorrowworld 2015 — a music festival right outside of Atlanta. I haven’t had much time to post much, BUT I wanted to share something before I left – these biscuits were the obvious choice. I think the key is handling the dough very gently when coating it in the flour, then line them evenly in a round pan.
Also — THE BUTTER — melt it and brush it over the biscuits after removing them from the oven.
I made some honey butter and bacon to serve on the side. You – do what you want, but I know these would be good with ANYTHING!
View the recipe on Food 52’s site.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and arrange a shelf slightly below the center of the oven. Butter an 8 or 9-inch round cake pan or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the self-rising flour, sugar, and salt. Work the shortening in with your fingers until there are no large lumps. Gently stir in the cream, then some of the buttermilk until dough resembles wet cottage cheese. It should be a wet mess -- not soup, but cottage-cheese texture. If you are not using a low-protein flour, this may take considerably more than 1 cup of buttermilk. Spread the plain all-purpose flour (not self-rising) out on a plate or pie pan. With a medium (about 2 inches, #30) ice cream scoop or spoon, place three or four scoops of dough well apart in the flour. Sprinkle flour over each. Flour your hands. Turn a dough ball in the flour to coat, pick it up, and gently shape it into a round, shaking off the excess flour as you work. Place this biscuit in the prepared pan. Coat each dough ball in the same way and place each shaped biscuit scrunched up against its neighbor so that the biscuits rise up and don't spread out. Continue scooping and shaping until all dough is used. Place the pan on the arranged shelf in the oven. Bake until lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Brush with the melted butter. Invert onto one plate, then back onto another. With a knife or spatula, cut quickly between biscuits to make them easy to remove. Serve immediately. "Butter 'em while they're hot."
- Do not use self-rising flour for shaping, as the leavener will give a bitter taste to the outside of the biscuits