Americas Test Kitchen Flaky Biscuits Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda for 30 seconds. Toss butter into dry mixture to evenly coat, then press between your fingers to create flower-petal shapes and return to bowl.
• Slowly drizzle buttermilk over flour-butter mixture (to evenly distribute) while stirring with a fork. Stop stirring when dough begins to form but mixture is still crumbly. Transfer to center of a parchment-lined baking sheet. Gather dough with your hands, pressing firmly to bind, and flatten it into a 6-by-10-inch rectangle. Lift parchment along a short end of dough and fold in half, forming a 6-by-5-inch rectangle. Turn dough 90 degrees; gently reflatten to 6 by 10 inches. Fold in half again and flatten slightly into a 6-inch square.
• To keep things easy, form the dough on the same tray it's baked on. Cut it into thirds in both directions with a large, sharp knife, to form 9 biscuits. Brush tops with buttermilk. Bake until puffed, golden brown on top, and hollow-sounding when tapped on bottom, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a kitchen towel-lined basket; cover to keep warm. Serve with butter and jam.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Rub 2 tablespoons of the cold butter into the flour with your fingertips until completely absorbed. Work the remaining 8 tablespoons of cold butter into the flour with your fingertips until pea-size bits of butter remain. Use a rubber spatula to stir the buttermilk into the flour until the mixture comes together into a shaggy dough. (Don't overmix the dough.)
• Lightly flour a cutting board or work surface, turn the dough out onto it and pat into a rectangle. Fold the dough in half and pat again into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Then fold the dough in thirds, as if folding a letter, and pat to an even thickness. Cut out biscuits with a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter and put on the prepared baking sheet. Press together the remaining scraps of dough. Pat out and fold the dough into thirds again and cut out more biscuits. Brush the biscuit tops with buttermilk.
• Bake until the tops are lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Cool on the pan at least 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Position oven rack in the upper-middle position; preheat to 450°; line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a big bowl.
• Stir in the cream with a wooden spoon until a dough forms, about 30 seconds.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gather into a ball.
• Knead the dough briefly until smooth, about 30 seconds.
• Pat the dough into an 8-inch round, about 3/4-inch thick.
• Using a flour 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, stamp out (don't twist) 8 biscuits, gently patting the dough scraps back into a uniform 3/4-inch thick piece as needed.
• Arrange the biscuits, upside down, on the prepared baking sheet, spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart.
• Bake until lightly browned, about 15-17 minutes, rotating halfway through baking.
• Transfer to a wire rack; let cool for 5 minutes, then serve warm.
• Make ahead--the cut, unbaked biscuits can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 hours; bake as directed.
• They can be frozen for up to 1 month; cover and freeze the biscuits until frozen solid, about 6 hours, then transfer to a large zip-lock bag.
• Bake the frozen biscuits (do not thaw) as directed, increasing the baking time to 20-25 minutes.