Southern Biscuits

Alton Brown/Good Eats/Flour Power
Uses powdered buttermilk
12 biscuits
breakfast
biscuit
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter cut into pieces
2 tablespoons shortening cut into pieces
4 tablespoons instant dry buttermilk
1 cup water chilled
  1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
  2. In a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter, shortening, and dry buttermilk and pulse until mixture looks like crumbs. Add the water and pulse just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.
  3. Turn dough onto floured surface, dusting top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-1/4-inch cutter, being sure to press straight down through the dough. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that’s life.)
  4. Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15–20 minutes.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15–20 minutes