I have a love/hate relationship with these. They really are the best buttermilk biscuits. I love making them but hate that I can’t control myself when I do. To be honest, I try not to make them very often. The combination of flaky, buttery, tender biscuits with the crunchy exterior and sea salt top… it’s so hard to resist, especially right out of the oven!
This is a recipe I learned during my time as a restaurant chef . I met a very talented baker who made the best baked goods. Since I made these biscuits all the time for work, they have become ingrained into my food muscle memory. Every time I make these for people, I always get comments like “these are the best things I’ve put in my mouth” and requests for them come often. Needless to say, I’ve had friends ask that I share the recipe. So here it is!
The best biscuits that work up very quickly.
Biscuits, soda bread, muffins… these are all categorized as quick breads with no yeast in them as the leavener. They are all quick to make and you could be sitting down to hot biscuits with your breakfast or to go along with a bowl of soup in no time flat. The key to a great rise and flakiness is to have very cold buttermilk and butter. You also want to work quickly and to not overwork the dough as this develops too much gluten. This creates toughness and not a tender biscuit. I also recommend chilling the dough briefly after the biscuits are formed. This is not a necessary step but I like to do it for extra insurance.
I also like to fold my dough over a few times to form layers. I don’t use a biscuit cutter for these because doing so creates waste. I’m not one to re-roll my dough scraps since they form not so attractive biscuits. Of course, a biscuit cutter could be used. Just make sure not to twist the cutter as you cut them out. Push it straight down instead. Twisting prevents the biscuits from rising as high as they could. Whatever you do, do NOT skip the flaky sea salt on top. The added hit of crunchy sea salt takes it over the top. The top half is the half I fight over if I have to share a biscuit.
How to utilize the best buttermilk biscuits.
I love these biscuits best with butter and a really great jam. These would make great breakfast sandwich. Eggs, sausage or bacon and cheese? Or egg, avocado and sliced tomato? Definitely a win for biscuits and gravy. To use as a sweet component, I would suggest topping them with Demerara sugar instead of salt. These would be wonderful as strawberry shortcake with whipped cream and fresh berries. How about fried chicken and biscuits drizzled with spicy honey? I could go on and on but I need to stop and have a biscuit now.
Best Buttermilk and Sea Salt Biscuits
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (226 grams) unsalted butter, cold (2 sticks)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter (for melting)
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp (95 grams) cake flour
- 2 1/2 cups (285 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp (7 grams) baking powder
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt, kosher
- 2 cups (500 ml) buttermilk, cold
- 2 tsp flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)
Method
- Preheat oven to 425ºF (220ºC). Cut butter into a large dice. Keep in refrigerator until ready to use. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Set aside.
- In a food processor, combine the flours, baking powder, sugar and kosher salt. Pulse briefly to combine. Add the butter and pulse until butter is the size of small peas. Pour flour mixture into a large bowl.
- Add the buttermilk. Stir until a shaggy dough forms. (If the air is very humid, hold back about 1/4 cup buttermilk. Add more or less as needed.)
- Flour a work surface and remove dough from bowl. Using a bench scraper or your hands, work and knead dough briefly to come together. Dust dough with flour if sticky. Once the dough is holding together well, pat down and fold in half. Pat down again and fold. Repeat one more time for a total of three folds.
- Pat dough into a roughly 8 1/2″ x 9″ rectangle, aiming for square corners. Cut dough into nine squares with a bench scraper or knife. Place biscuits on the baking sheet, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. If time allows, place sheet pan in the refrigerator or freezer for 10 minutes to chill.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm.
Notes
Oh my word, these sound amazing
They really are worth the calories 😉