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Small-Batch Buttermilk Biscuits
![Small-Batch Buttermilk Biscuits](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/02/04/dining/ejm-small-batch-biscuits/merlin_183224058_10f8ef92-f5c4-43ef-b70f-28a4568d8e22-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 45 minutes, plus chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2cups/255 grams all-purpose flour
- 1tablespoon baking powder
- 1teaspoon kosher salt
- 6tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, plus room temperature butter for greasing the pan
- ¾cup/180 milliliters cold buttermilk, plus more as needed
- 1large egg
Preparation
- Step 1
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt to combine. Add the cold cubed butter, and toss until each cube is well coated with flour. Using your hands or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
- Step 2
Make a well in the center of the bowl, and pour in the buttermilk. Use your hands or a silicone spatula to mix the ingredients together until they form a homogenous dough. (It will look quite shaggy.) If the dough is not coming together, add more buttermilk by tablespoons.
- Step 3
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Toward the end of chilling, heat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Step 4
Butter a 9-inch square baking pan, a 9-inch round cake pan, an oven-safe skillet or a baking sheet.
- Step 5
On a lightly floured surface and using floured hands, pat the dough into a rectangle ½-inch thick. Fold the dough in quarters. Using floured hands, pat the dough out again to a square about 1¼-inch thick.
- Step 6
Cut the square of biscuit dough into four even pieces. Transfer the biscuits to the prepared pan in a cluster, with about ½ inch of space between each biscuit.
- Step 7
In a small bowl, whisk the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the egg wash over the surface of the biscuits, and bake until deeply golden brown on top, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool at least 10 minutes before carefully separating and serving.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
I'm sure these biscuits are good, but this is not a "small batch" recipe, at least not compared with my old standby biscuit recipe ("Rolled Biscuits," Joy of Cooking, 1975 edition, p. 632), which calls for 1 3/4 cups of flour. When I want a small batch of these, I halve the recipe.
Tasty and expeditious! Makes just four biscuits of a generous size, not "huge" in my book, not mingy. The dough came together easily with quantities given. When patted out the second time and before cutting, the dough was a generous 5" square. Altogether a lovely bake for a Saturday morning when there is snow on the ground. Would definitely bake these again.
Biscuits are easy to scale up or down. The proportions, by weight, are 3 parts flour, two parts liquid (dribble a little more if needed), one part fat. 1 teaspoon baking powder per cup (120 grams) of flour and salt to equal 2% of the flour weight, less if your butter and/or buttermilk have been salted. Work the fat into the flour well, but use a light hand with the dough once the liquid is added
Save the egg for frying! Coat biscuits with leftover buttermilk before baking
6 Tablespoons = 3 ounces = 85 grams
Cut into 6 instead of 4. Baked off 2 in toaster oven. Froze 4. Frozen biscuits take about 12 min in my toaster oven at 400 degrees.
Freezing unbaked biscuits lets you bake as many as you want. Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015557-flaky-buttermilk-biscuits) are awesome. Freeze stick of butter and grate it on a large-hole grater, mixing it into the dry ingredients as you go -- easier than cutting butter into flour. Pat dough out, do a couple of book folds, then pat into a rectangle and cut into 12 pieces with a sharp knife. Scooch them apart, freeze and bag. Add 2-3 min to the baking time.
This most definitely is not small batch. The ingredients are nearly identical to Mark Bittman’s excellent recipe for TEN biscuits. I’m sure they are delicious but it’s really just 4 enormous biscuits. Don’t kid yourself.
if using salted butter eliminate salt if using milk instead of crean increase butter 2 Large Biscuits: INGREDIENTS: 1/2 C less 3 tsp all-purpose flour 2 TBS cake flour 1/8 tsp salt 1 tsp scant baking powder 1/16 tsp soda 1TBS 1tsp sweet butter 1/3 C cream (milk OK as is buttermilk) DIRECTIONS Preheat oven 450°F Mix dry ingredients in a bowl Work butter into flour add liquid, mix knead 3-4 times Make 1 large 3 in or 2-1&1/2 inch biscuit Bake on parchment paper 450° 15 -20 min
I saw Erin’s post on Instagram, and on a whim, decided to make these biscuits to go with dinner. We didn’t have buttermilk so I mixed 1T lemon juice /1c whole milk. I ended up using just over 3/4c liquid. The biscuits turned out great - came together easily, baked beautifully in my cast iron skillet, and have wonderful flavor.
Looks tempting with frigid weather bearing down on us For the past year or so, I've been sub'ing plain yogurt for butter in various recipes. Pancakes for instance....butter goes "on" the pancakes but not in them The challenge now, small batch butter flavored yogurt biscuits The polar express is plopping on top of us for days, there's time to figure it out
These are excellent. I made them with two changes. First, onto a large plate cut the 84 grams of butter into small pieces or grate the butter (large holes of box grater). Freeze the butter for 30 minutes. Second, in step 5, "fold into quarters" will produce rounded sides making the biscuits lopsided. Instead, cut the rectangle's longer length in half (with a bench knife); lay one half on the other half. Turn the result 90 degrees, and do this again. Then do the final press.
This is the same as my recipe for 6-8 biscuits, just cutting out larger biscuits.
Since I am not from USA I would love to know the weight of 6 tablespoons of butter. I'm just not used to not having metric figures.
I made these biscuits with almond milk in place of the buttermilk (didn't feel like running to the store for 1 ingredient) and think they turned out nice. Satisfied my Sunday morning biscuit craving, without having a ton of left overs. I think they are big biscuits, and I actually might cut the recipe in half next time.
These are perfect no fuss. Followed recipe loosely, made buttermilk myself. Let the dough rest! The flakiest, yummiest ever! PS. I just had made strawberry rhubarb compote this morning! Amazing match
Used the mini chopper to incorporate diced frozen butter into the flour. 3 pulses and it was done. While cutting and layering the dough 3 - 4 times, painted extra softened butter between layers. Did a couple more layerings after the 30 minutes of chilling. Shaped the dough and cut into 8 smaller biscuits. Froze unbaked biscuits for later. For the subscription price to access the NYT Cooking they should be including 1/2 and double information of recipes as well as freezing instructions. JFP
I wonder how the proportions (& success rate) would change if you used different types of flour (White Lily, whole wheat, a mix w corn meal, etc.), fat (coconut oil, etc, to go vegan), or liquid (broth/dashi, etc, instead of buttermilk)? I feel like this is a great base recipe to experiment with (full disclosure: the Tassajara Bread Book was my 1st cookbook).
A-mazing Biscuit! Didn't have buttermilk but I had heavy cream & a lemon. Kerrygold butter was a lovely addition. Followed the recipe, after the fridge I patted dough out to 1/2" & folded into fourths. Patted out to 1 1/4" but when I went to put into the pan, the biscuit separated. Thought I did something wrong; but oh no, that's where they puffed up & rose, splitting into the perfect biscuit. Wait the 10 minutes, gave them a eally nice crispy, flaky bottom. YUM!
Great way to use up buttermilk! But I usually want extra biscuits, not 4 big ones.
Biscuits with eggs are scones.
Made these tonight and they turned out pretty good if a little on the large size. Used the box grater with frozen butter and a full cup of buttermilk. Chilled the dough for an hour or two until my beef stew was almost ready. Baked in round 9" cake pan for 25 minutes. Very tasty!
This is it, folks. After years of searching, The biscuit recipe. I like smaller biscuits, so this made about a dozen 2 inch biscuits for me.
Unlike me, I followed the recipe exactly. The reward was very hearty delicious biscuits. Used salted butter and intro notes recommend decreasing - which I did. Baked in a 10” cast iron pan. Next time - and there will be a next time - I’ll pat out dough a bit thinner and make 6 biscuits
Love these! Have made them lots, and prefer cutting into 6 biscuits instead of 4. Makes 4 big biscuits and 6 regular.
I made these exactly according to the recipe, and they were delicious. Perfectly sized, slightly salty, deep golden brown, and flaky, these are probably the best biscuits I have ever made. I did need a couple of extra tablespoons of buttermilk to wet the dry ingredients, but this will probably vary depending upon the flour and humidity.
Love these. Easy to cook up and turn into delicious breakfast sandwiches. When I don't have buttermilk on hand, using vinegar or lemon juice in milk to substitute works just fine in this recipe.
It would be nice, if only for consistency's sake, if they could put the weight for butter in the ingredients too.
Idk what I did wrong but these didn’t rise for me at all and I could taste the baking powder a bit. The quest for whole wheat biscuits continues
Take PeterL's recommendations regarding folding and cutting. I made mine per the recipe's instructions and they came out lopsided.
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