Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

Mel at Mel's Kitchen Cafe has done it again. I just love her site. A few years ago, I tried my hand at making biscuits. They weren't very good at all. Not moist, hard, and tasteless. Definitely not words you want to use to describe your food right? Well, after perusing Mel's site last week, I came across this recipe and I couldn't wait to try it. Well, today, I was craving biscuits and I decided to try my hand at making some. These were so simple to make and pretty foolproof. I couldn't wait to slather it with some butter and some of my favorite raspberry honey jelly. They were perfect. Quite possibly the best biscuit I've ever had!! If you have a food processor, this is even easier. Now I wanted to put a little plug in for this pretty awesome jelly we were gifted a few weeks ago. I honestly can't believe we haven't finished it off yet! It is from a local company, Honeyberry Farm, in Knoxville, TN and it is amazing. You should really try it! Ok, plug over. Now go make these biscuits!

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons very cold butter cut into pieces
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, more or less

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Combine the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor, or in a bowl if you don't have a food processor. Add the butter to the food processor and pulse a few short times until the butter is small and pea-sized. If you don't have a food processor, cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture is like coarse meal and the butter is pea-sized. 

Pour in the buttermilk and mix/pulse only until just combined. The dough should start to come together, don't overmix the dough.If there are lots of dry patches throughout the dough, add a bit more buttermilk, just a tablespoon or two at a time until the dough comes together. 

Scrape the dough out of the food processor or bowl onto a lightly floured counter. Gently pat  the dough to about 1/2-inch thick with your hands. (Do not use a rolling pin.) Gently fold the dough in half or in thirds, repeating for a total of 4-5 times and pressing it gently to 1-inch thick after the last fold. This is what makes the biscuits flaky. Use a round biscuit or cookie cutter to cut into circles. Do not turn the cutter while pressing into the dough, just press firmly enough to cut all the way through the dough.

Prepare a large, rimmed cookie sheet with a silpat liner or parchment paper. Place the biscuits on the pan with the sides barely touching each other. This helps the biscuits rise up instead of out. If you like crustier sides to your biscuits, space them further apart. They won't rise as high but they'll have golden edges. 

Bake for about 10-12 minutes until the biscuits are lightly golden on top and bottom, make sure not to overbake. Serve immediately.