Southern Biscuits

Alton Brown

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2007

Show: Good EatsEpisode: Sub Standards

Picture of Southern Biscuits Recipe 3 Videos | Photo: Southern Biscuits Recipe
Rated 4 stars out of 5
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  • Read 69 Reviews
Total Time:
40 min
Prep
20 min
Cook
20 min
Yield:
1 dozen biscuits
Level:
Easy
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Ingredients

  • 12 ounces all-purpose flour, plus 1/2 cup for dusting
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 ounce unsalted butter, chilled
  • 2 ounces shortening, chilled
  • 8 fluid ounces low-fat buttermilk, chilled

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Whisk together the 12 ounces flour, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt in a large mixing bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the butter and shortening into the dry goods until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the middle of this mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Stir with a large spoon until the dough just comes together. Then knead in the bowl until all the flour has been taken up.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, then start folding the dough over on itself, gently kneading for 30 seconds, or until the dough is soft and smooth. Press the dough into a 1-inch thick round. Using a 3-inch round cutter, cut out biscuits, being sure to push the cutter straight down through the dough to the work surface before twisting to "punch" out the biscuit. Make your cuts as close together as possible to limit waste.

Place the biscuits on a half sheet pan so they just barely touch. Reroll any scraps and punch out as many biscuits as possible. Use your thumb to create a shallow dimple in the top center of each biscuit and bake until the biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn the biscuits out into a kitchen towel-lined basket and cool slightly before serving.

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Newest Ratings and Reviews

Read all 69 reviews

  • on October 27, 2011

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    Easy to follow recipe my biscuits were very tasty but a little dry not as pretty as yours. i subd whole milk for buttermilk and used an old glass to punch out biscuits (a little bigger than your biscuit cutter do you think those changes hurt the recipe? i have been trying to make a good biscuit for years. i can't seem to get the hang of it. i would love some advice please

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  • on October 24, 2011

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    Great biscuits, my picky family couldn't stop eating them!!! Did not have a scale to weigh ingredients so I used 2 cups of flour plus more for kneading, 2T of butter, 4T of shortening and I made my own buttermilk (1T of vinegar added to 1 cup of 2% milk.
    I always use Alton for my base recipes and again this did not fail!!
    TRY THEM!

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  • on August 18, 2011

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    I agree they need more salt, and I used salted butter. The dough was really wet, but when they were done baking, they were fantastic! I wil be sure to make them again and add my own flare!

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