The Secret to Making the Best Biscuits
Butter makes everything better.
Felicia Perretti
Biscuits are truly a delicacy. Their warm, flaky layers are impossible to resist, and you can make them savory or sweet for a meal any time of day. While ready-to-go biscuit mixes or cans may be a quick (and delicious) way to satisfy a craving, those biscuits never seem to be as fluffy and rich with butter as their homemade counterparts. So, when I found Carla Hall’s recipe, I knew I was in for a treat. Her Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits class on the Food Network Kitchen app taught me how to make the flakiest, most buttery biscuits that are so good, you’ll never turn to the store-bought option again. The best part? You probably already have all of the ingredients on hand!
Carla’s secret to making flaky biscuits is simple: grate the butter. Grating the butter creates shards that are uniform in size, ensuring they’re evenly mixed with the flour. But in order to properly grate it, you need to make sure your butter is cold — very, very cold. Not only does cold butter allow for easy grating, but it also has more water in it. So when the biscuits are baking, the water creates steam in the oven which makes them oh-so tender.
But the buttery goodness doesn’t stop there. Instead of using parchment paper, Carla brushes the sheet pan with — you guessed it — more butter! The greased pan allows the bottom of the biscuits to caramelize and get crunchy, which, according to Carla, is the best part.
Head over to the Food Network Kitchen app, and check out Carla’s class to learn her other tips and tricks for the perfect buttermilk biscuits. She also has a bunch of other ready-to-watch classes available when you download the app and sign up today!