Hi, Debra.

Those biscuits look delicious!

Regarding dusting the bench: I use a flour shaker, which gives me a pretty even dusting. 

David

I really like the idea of spraying the countertop first. I've made more than my share of biscuits lately and noticed how sometimes areas are prone to sticking. This is a great method, I suppose, for pie crust as well.

--Pamela

FLAKY BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Makes 12 biscuits.   Published January 1, 2006.

The dough is a bit sticky when it comes together and during the first set of turns. Set aside about 1 cup of extra flour for dusting the work surface, dough, and rolling pin to prevent sticking. Be careful not to incorporate large pockets of flour into the dough when folding it over. When cutting the biscuits, press down with firm, even pressure; do not twist the cutter. The recipe may be prepared through step 2, transferred to a zipper-lock freezer bag, and frozen for several weeks. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before proceeding.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2	cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces), plus additional flour for work surface
1	tablespoon baking powder
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
1	teaspoon table salt
2	tablespoons vegetable shortening , cut into 1/2-inch chunks
8	tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), cold, lightly floured and cut into 1/8-inch slices (see illustration below)
2	tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
1 1/4	cups low-fat buttermilk , cold

INSTRUCTIONS

1. 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 450 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.

2. 2. Add shortening to flour mixture; break up chunks with fingertips until only small, pea-sized pieces remain. Working in batches, drop butter slices into flour mixture and toss to coat; pick up each slice of butter and press between floured fingertips into flat, nickel-sized pieces (see illustration at right). Repeat until all butter is incorporated; toss to combine. Freeze mixture (in bowl) until chilled, about 15 minutes.

3. 3. Spray 24-inch-square area of work surface with nonstick cooking spray; spread spray evenly across surface with kitchen towel or paper towel. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of extra flour across sprayed area; gently spread flour across work surface with palm to form thin, even coating. Add all but 2 tablespoons of buttermilk to flour mixture; stir briskly with fork until ball forms and no dry bits of flour are visible, adding remaining buttermilk as needed (dough will be sticky and shaggy but should clear sides of bowl). With rubber spatula, transfer dough onto center of prepared work surface, dust surface lightly with flour, and, with floured hands, bring dough together into cohesive ball.

4. 4. Pat dough into approximate 10-inch square; roll into 18 by 14-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick, dusting dough and rolling pin with flour as needed. Following illustrations below, using bench scraper or thin metal spatula, fold dough into thirds, brushing any excess flour from surface; lift short end of dough and fold in thirds again to form approximate 6 by 4-inch rectangle. Rotate dough 90 degrees, dusting work surface underneath with flour; roll and fold dough again, dusting with flour as needed.

5. 5. Roll dough into 10-inch square about 1/2 inch thick; flip dough and cut nine 3-inch rounds with floured biscuit cutter, dipping cutter back into flour after each cut. Carefully invert and transfer rounds to ungreased baking sheet, spaced 1 inch apart. Gather dough scraps into ball; roll and fold once or twice until scraps form smooth dough. Roll dough into 1/2-inch-thick round; cut three more 3-inch rounds and transfer to baking sheet. Discard excess dough.

6. Brush biscuit tops with melted butter. Bake, without opening oven door, until tops are golden brown and crisp, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Mmmmmm.......they look like real cloud biscuits. Bet they taste just as good too:)

Ian

even with your mistakes, debra, they look gorgeous nevertheless.  isn't cook's illustrated just great?  well their slogan is "recipes that work" or something to that effect.  thanks for the tip about spraying non-stick oil on the surface.  i use a silicon mat, but will try your technique as well.

for xaipete, thanks for that recipe!

David, I have a small strainer I sometimes use as a flour shaker, although I've gotten pretty good at the sideways toss :-)  Regardless of how evenly the flour distributes, I found the oil and flour to work better than flour alone, where the flour needs to be pretty thick, as for sticky biscuit dough. And it is quicker, because you can dump the flour and spread it with your hand. It makes a velvety surface.

Pamela, I think this would be perfect for pie crust. Now that spring is here, I've been dreaming of strawberry-rhubarb pie...

Ian, the tops and bottoms were crisp, and pretty darned tasty. The height is impressive, because there's so much baking powder. I'm still trying different brands, to see which tastes the best without compromising rise.

I have their recipe for fluffy biscuits memorized.  Back when I was a bike racer and burned a lot more calories I had them nearly every morning.  I never did try the flaky version.  Thanks for the reminder!

Summer

Debra,

  Thanks for all the great tips and tricks. I recently tried some biscuits and was hoping you might be able to help with some claification.

1. I followed the Bakewell cream biscuit recipe but substituted the 4 tsp Bakewell cream & 2 tsp baking soda for 4 tsp glabber girl baking powder as the recipe stated for a conversion. If I read correctly I should have increased the amount of baking powder to 6 tsp not 4? 

2. I also substituted buttermilk instead of regular milk. Should I have added something to offset the acid in the buttermilk?

3. While incorporating the butter is there a risk of over working the fluor and making the dough tough? Or is it to early in the process to worry about that?

4. When I added the buttermilk and mixed the dough I couldn't get all of the fluor to incorporate into the dough ball. I was afraid to overwork the dough though. Is it normal for the dough to be very crumbly or should it all come together in a ball? Should more liquid be added?

5. In regards to flaky biscuits once you've done your initial roll out of the dough do you dust the dough prior to folding to keep the layers from fusing together? Also after folding and then rolling the dough it seems like it would just work back together. Do the layers naturally stay apart?

Thanks for your time and patience I appreciate your help

-Adam-

Well I broke down and ordered the Bakewell cream the other day. Last night it arrived and proceded to make a 1/4 batch of their biscuit recipe. They were delicious but I still walked away with a couple concerns.

1. Per the recipe I divided all measurement in 1/4. This in turn had me adding 6 tablespoons of buttermilk to the 1 cup of fluor(+ other items) It wasn't nearly enough. After I attempted to stir with a fork for a bit I gave up, went to my wing it routes, and added a little more buttermilk until all the ingredients were together. This did make a slightly sticky dough though.

2. I typically bake on a stone and have noticed that if i put any biscuit on the stone but the time the inside is done the bottom and lower sides are pretty crunchy. Any ideas? Should I just use a cookie sheet and my silpat?

3. The biscuits had great flavor(best yet) but they crumbled to bits on the inside. As soon as you broke them apart with a fork and attempted to place jelly on them the inside would just stick to the jelly leaving a shell. Any advice on this little mystery?

I'm getting there

Thanks again

Adam