I’ve been struggling with biscuits. Every recipe says they are “so easy” but I can assure you they kind of aren’t. This version isn’t perfect, but it’s getting there. A few things helped. One, freeze the butter, grate it then put it back in the freezer. Two, use Tipo 00 (or T45 pastry flour) for a softer biscuit. Three, make sure the baking powder isn’t out of date (d’oh!). Don’t use the fan oven setting – conventional heat seemed to work better. Finally, use a high-sided dish when cooking the biscuits so the sides keep the biscuits from spreading. I used a 28cm deep dish pie pan and got about 8 biscuits in there.
Ingredients:
- 250g Tipo 00 flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 85g frozen, grated butter
- 180ml buttermilk
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 220C. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together well. Add the frozen butter and use a pastry cutter to mix until crumbly. Add the buttermilk and mix gently. Turn out onto a floured surface and work together into a ball (don’t overwork – you don’t want the butter granules to melt). Pat the dough into a rectangle about an inch thick and fold the short edges in. Turn and pat down again. Fold and turn another couple of times.
Pat into a rectangle about 1.5cm thick and using a floured biscuit cutter, cut into 8-10 rounds. Arrange the biscuits in the high-sided pan with each biscuit touching. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.