Once upon a time, we lived in a little town called Lexington. And in this town, we spent a year living in an apartment in an adorable, pink, historic home in the heart of downtown. And just around the corner from that apartment was a cute little brunch place called Doodles. And we could walk around that corner and get the best biscuits in town anytime we wanted.
Why did we ever leave?
Years later, on the opposite side of the country, I still think about those biscuits. All the time. I’m sure I’m romanticizing them a bit, especially during this week that I’m missing Kentucky something fierce, but those biscuits were the best. Fluffy, flaky, buttery perfection. They almost tasted like they were baked, slathered in butter, and then fried on a hot pan. So, so good.
I’ve been on a quest for a spectacular biscuit recipe for years, hoping to recreate something similar to the magic of Doodles. And folks, this is it, thanks to Saveur Magazine. These biscuits are fluffy, buttery, flaky, and completely delightful. They are baked, brushed with melted butter and honey, and then baked again. And that’s the magic.
I was so excited after making these biscuits for the first time that I went out and bought a biscuit cutter. Did you know that’s a thing? They make adorable little circle cutters in all different sizes, and they have cute little handles for easy removal from the biscuit dough. What a time to be alive.
These require a little bit of advance thought, just because you need to freeze your butter before making the dough. And it will require a little bit of elbow grease to grate that frozen butter, but seeing those little curls of yellowy goodness in your bowl will inspire great happiness, I assure you.
And when these biscuits come out of the oven, they are the perfect vehicles for jam, honey, or even bacon, eggs, and cheese. Oh, the possibilities…
What’s even better? You can whip up this dough anytime, cut out your biscuits, and then put them in the freezer for easy baking whenever you want. Perfection.
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen, plus 4 tablespoons, melted
- 1¾ cup buttermilk (plus a few tablespoons, if necessary)*
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Using the coarse side of a box grater, grate frozen butter into flour mixture. Mix to combine.
- Add buttermilk and mix until a soft dough forms.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Pat into a rectangle a little more than an inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits, reusing the dough scraps as needed.
- Place biscuits on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake until golden, 18-20 minutes.
- Stir melted butter and honey in a bowl. Brush over the hot biscuits. Return biscuits to the oven and cook until golden, 3-5 minutes more.
I used a 3-inch biscuit cutter and got 14 biscuits out of my dough.
You can place unbaked biscuits on a tray lined with wax paper, and put in the freezer until biscuits are frozen. Transfer frozen biscuits to a freezer bag. Bake them directly from frozen, adding a few minutes to the baking time.
Recipe from Saveur Magazine.
-Ally
Leave a Reply