Killer Buttermilk Biscuits + Awesome Dairy Free Biscuits

I have come to the conclusion that everyone needs a good biscuit recipe in their cooking arsenal. Biscuits are just so versatile. They are great for breakfast. They are great as a dinner side with pretty much anything. Or, sweeten them up just a touch and you’ve got the foundation for an awesome dessert. Clearly biscuits are where it’s at! 

Over the years I have tried a lot of biscuit recipes, honestly with limited success. Some came out lumpy. Some came out tough (admittedly this is possibly from over mixing not necessarily the recipe). Some just fell apart. Some didn’t have the flavor I was looking for. So, for quite a long time I gave up on making my own biscuits, preferring instead to rely on frozen biscuits. Which in my opinion are pretty decent, and certainly convenient.

In retrospect I’d say my biscuit problem was a 50/50 split. Half of the issues came from the recipes I used and  half came from the fact that I really didn’t know what techniques I needed to get a good biscuit. But hind sight is always 20/20 right? And I didn’t realize all this until just recently, after stumbling on to a recipe from Divas Can Cook. The recipe had simple but very specific instructions which convinced me it might be worth giving the whole biscuit business another shot.

And I am sooooo glad I did. My first batch ended up turning out pretty darn good biscuits, that were incredibly flavorful, though I didn’t get quite the height I was looking for and they were a touch too crumbly. But they were good enough to keep working on. 

I did a little reading around the web on techniques to improve the biscuits in the next round and realized a few things:

• I needed to mix the dough just a little more then I had the first time. So many recipes warn you not to over mix the dough, which is good. But I was barley mixing for fear of making a touch biscuit. I realized you still need to have a cohesive dough when you hit the rolling out process. 
• I needed to treat the dough somewhat like a croissant during the laminating step and fold it over itself a few times. This gives the biscuits those layers and helps with height. 
• The other thing I needed to do was roll out my dough thicker then the original recipe called for, this also helps get the height on the biscuits I was looking for. 

After my research I made a few tiny tweaks to the recipe and my technique, and gave it another go. What did I end up with this time but utterly PERFECT biscuits? Winner, winner chicken dinner! 

After that it was actually a pretty simple matter to come up with a dairy free version for Tristan. (Which also ended up being the perfect texture to use in shortcake!) And now, here we are with two biscuit recipes I simply MUST share with you. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family and I do! 

P.S. Much thanks to Divas Can Cook for setting me on the right track with their awesome recipe!

Killer Buttermilk Biscuits- Yields 8 Biscuits Adapted, barely, from Divas Can Cook. 

• 2 cups White Lilly All Purpose Self Rising Flour (Yes you really should use THIS brand of flour it’s the best and will give you the best biscuits ever. I don’t usually care about brands, but in this case it does make a difference. If you don’t have White Lilly, you can use a different brand of self rising all purpose flour, if you must.) 
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (light or dark works fine)
• 6 tablespoons butter, really, really cold (like stick it in the freezer for a few minutes)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, really, really cold (again stick it in the frezzer)
• 1 cup of buttermilk, really, really, cold (Keep it in the fridge until ready to use. Also, see notes for a good trick if you don’t have any buttermilk on hand.)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream really, really, cold (Keep it in the fridge until ready to use.)
• additional melted butter for brushing the tops of the biscuits

1. Make sure one oven rack is in the upper center position and preheat the oven to 450*. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 
2. In a large bowl add flour, salt, and brown sugar. Use a wire whisk to mix well. Add the butter and shortening to the flour mix, and use a pastry blender or two forks to blend the butter and shortening in. Work as quickly as possible to keep the ingredients cold. You want to end up with with mostly chunks of butter about the size of a large pea; completely coated in flour when you are done. Some of the chunks of butter should be a little bigger, up to about the size of a small grape. If the butter starts to melt at all while you are working place the bowl in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes until re chilled. The flour should look pretty pebbly when ready.
3. Add the buttermilk and cream to the bowl. Mix using clean hands that have been well coated in flour until a very coarse, shaggy wet dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a well floured center top. Gently fold the dough together a few times, incorporating a little bit of the flour from the counter into the dough to form a more cohesive dough. Shape the dough into a loose flat rectangle about 1.5 inches thick. Fold the dough over on itself in thirds (much like laminating dough for croissants) gently flattening the dough back into a rectangle. Repeat twice, ending with a rectangle about 1 inch thick. 
4. Use a biscuit cutter (use a small glass or canning ring if you don’t have a biscuit cutter) to cut out 8 biscuits. Cut using a straight down motion with no twisting, as twisting will seal the edges of the biscuits and prevent rising. Try to cut as close as possible to avoid scraps. (You can push the scraps together to create one extra small biscuit if desired, but honestly, it probably will not rise as well as the other biscuits. Though it will still taste great.) Place the biscuits in two rows, just touching, on the prepared baking sheet. 
5. Bake at 450* for 10-12 minutes until golden. Brush with melted butter right after removing from the oven. 

Note: If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, take one cup of milk, add one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice and let it stand at room temperature for five to ten minutes, until it curdles slightly and thickens. Return the milk to the fridge to chill before using in the recipe. 

Awesome Dairy Free Biscuits– Yields 8 Biscuits. Also adapted  from Divas Can Cook. 

Important! When purchasing Smart Balance for recipe be aware that there are several versions, some of which are not dairy free, so be careful to read the label! 

• 2 cups White Lilly All Purpose Self Rising Flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar 
• 2 tablespoons Smart Balance Dairy Free butter spread, really cold (like stick it in the freezer for a few minutes)
• 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cold (again stick it in the frezzer)
• 1/2 cup of ice water
• optional: additional melted smart balance for brushing the tops of the biscuits

1. Make sure one oven rack is in the upper center position and preheat the oven to 450*. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 
2. In a large bowl add flour, salt, and brown sugar. Use a wire whisk to mix well. Add the butter and shortening to the flour mix, and use a pastry blender or two forks to blend the Smart Balance and shortening in. Work as quickly as possible to keep the ingredients cold. You want to end up with with mostly chunks of Smart Balance/shortening about the size of a large pea; completely coated in flour when you are done. Some of the chunks of butter should be a little bigger, up to about the size of a small grape. If the butter starts to melt at all while you are working place the bowl in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes until re chilled. The flour should look pretty pebbly when ready.
3. Add the ice water to the bowl. Mix using clean hands that have been well coated in flour until a very coarse, shaggy wet dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a well floured center top. Gently fold the dough together a few times, incorporating a little bit of the flour from the counter into the dough to form a more cohesive dough. Shape the dough into a loose flat rectangle about 1.5 inch thick. Fold the dough over on itself in thirds (much like laminating dough for croissants) gently flattening the dough back into a rectangle. Repeat twice, ending with a rectangle about 1 inch thick. 
4. Use a biscuit cutter (use a small glass or canning ring if you don’t have a biscuit cutter) to cut out 8 biscuits. Cut using a straight down motion with no twisting, as twisting will seal the edges of the biscuits and prevent rising. Try to cut as close as possible to avoid scraps. (You can push the scraps together to create one extra small biscuit if desired, but honestly, it probably will not rise as well as the other biscuits. Though it will still taste great.) Place the biscuits in two rows, just touching, on the prepared baking sheet. 
5. Bake at 450* for 10-12 minutes until golden. Brush with melted smart balance right after removing from the oven if desired. 

Notes: I should also mention that this biscuit ends up having the perfect texture for shortcake! However, you may want to add an additional tablespoon of white sugar if you are using it for dessert purposes.