| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 56 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Inactive: | 25 min |
| Cook: | 16 min |
| Yield: | 9 biscuits |
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold, plus 1 tablespoon
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided, plus more for work surface
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/4 teaspoons sea salt, divided
- 2 tablespoons shortening, cold
- 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Cut 1/2 cup of the butter into 1/2-inch pieces and refrigerate it along with the shortening. In the bowl of a food processor, fitted with the steel blade, pulse together the cake flour, 3/4 cup of the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Add the butter and shortening and pulse to combine, until small crumbles are present. 6 to 8 times, or Add the buttermilk and pulse until a dough ball forms, about 5 to 6 times.
- Dust a dry work surface with flour and have the remaining 1 cup ready for kneading. Turn the dough out onto the floured work surface. With floured hands, gently press the dough out into an 11 by 8-inch rectangle, about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick, dust lightly with flour and gently fold it over in thirds, like a letter. Roll or press out to a 6 by 6-inch rectangle again about 2 inches thick. Cut the dough into 9 squares (2 by 2 inches each) with a pizza cutter. Transfer the biscuits to a silicone mat or parchment paper lined baking sheet about 1/2-inch apart. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let them rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Melt the remaining tablespoon butter and brush tops with melted butter, then sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt.
- Place baking sheet in the middle of the oven and immediately turn oven down to 450 degrees F. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove biscuits to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 9 servings |
| Calories | 259 |
| Total Fat | 15 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 27 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 1 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Cholesterol | 32 mg |
| Sodium | 245 mg |
Reviews
I wasn’t impressed. I followed it exactly as written, except rolling it to 1-1/2″ instead of 2″, and even then it only yielded six biscuits, not nine. I’m not upset about that, though, because nobody went back for seconds like they always do, so three got thrown in the trash. Kiddo asked if I could make the biscuits I made a couple of weeks ago from a recipe I found on Pinterest. I may try Carla Hall’s recipe next instead. She’s a southerner, so she should know biscuits.
Great biscuit recipe; love the use of the cake flour as it almost guarantees a tender biscuit. I recommend watching the attached video as it clarifies Guy’s flour measurements and instructions that are head-scratchers in the recipe. These biscuits had lots of flaky layers, and the flavor was delicious. The “resting” bit was puzzling, but I am guessing Guy may have used an aluminum-free baking powder that is activated by liquid rather than heat, so he is allowing the baking powder time to absorb the moisture and get busy. I rested my dough as well, but fretted the whole time about the butter and leaf lard getting soft…rest dough in the fridge as with pie dough? Anyway, best biscuits to date. No more Bisquick. Blech.
LOVED the flavor… but a couple of comments: the recipe is confusing about the amount of APF needed, it talks about splitting the 3/4 cup- but then uses the whole amount in the recipe itself. Second comment: I find the texture too crumbly, they fall apart WAYYY too easily – so going to adjust the ratio of APF/cake flour – hopefully that will help. Beyond that the taste is outstanding, and ease of making these makes them my top Fav so far!!!
These are amazing. The interior texture is fluffy and the crust is perfect. I have always struggled to make a good biscuit. I have tried numerous recipes. I always seemed to overwork the dough or it was a sticky mess resulting in hockey pucks. The only thing I would do differently in the future would be to use a small biscuit cutter rather than cutting into squares.
can anyone explain the flour issue. I’d like to make these.
Just made these beauties. My usual is for buttermilk biscuits on a good day but they always seemed a bit heavy. That cake flour seems to make al the difference in the world. These biscuits turned out super high and almost too tender to hold. This recipe is a keep for me.
Aren’t these called scones?
Love these biscuits but there is a few issues with the recipe. It is missing some of the flour in the ingredient listing – 1 cup! The dough was super sticky after adding the buttermilk. The instructions say to add the other cup of flour (guessing that is cake flour) which is very necessary. It also states to add or the buttermilk – it is not an “or” but an add. Still – working through it, the biscuits were great. Would be difficult for new bakers if they had no experience with biscuits or dough.
My dough ended up being very sticky but the biscuits were very light and tender. I used all butter instead of shortening. I didn’t have any buttermilk so added 1 tbs white vinegar to 1c whole milk to substitute. I didn’t have time to let them rest but it was fine. Do not substitute the cake flour because that’s what makes them so light!
It is delicious I enjoyed making this but the problem was the recipe got me confused so if I made the wrong choice it would have been a disaster