I’ve always liked to cook, but I’ve never really delved into baking. It always seemed so fussy. However, as they say, the first step in being kinda good at something is being really bad at it, so I decided I should try anyway. All said, pretty pleased with the result, especially the evidence of laminated layers.
spoiler
Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to bowl. Take your very cold butter, and grate it into the dry ingredients using a box grater. Quickly work the butter into the flour mix with a fork or your hands. Add a portion of the milk, and mix until a shaggy dough forms, adding more milk as necessary (I did not use the full allotment). Turn out onto a work surface dusted with flour. Knead with your hands until you have a solid mass which does not stick to your work surface. Roll it into a rough ball/lump, then flatten it out into a rough rectangle approximately 1 inch thick. Fold one half of the rectangle on top of the other half, and then knead it back out to a 1 thick rectangle. Turn the dough 90 degrees, and repeat a couple times. I think I maybe did 5 reps. Once you have your final rectangle, cut out your biscuit rounds if you have the tool to do so. I did not, so I just cut the rectangle into thirds and then half using a chef’s knife. Lubed a baking pan with cooking spray, hucked the bits of dough in, and set into a 425 degree F (~220 C) oven. Baked until the dough had puffed up at least twice it’s initial size, and the surface was dry and unyielding to my finger (roughly 15, 20 min? I don’t know, tbh, this was all feel at this point). Notably, the biscuits had not acquired much of any color other than their bottoms. I was worried about over cooking them or scorching the bottoms if I let it go until the tops were golden brown, so I brushed them down with butter and then hit em with a full broiler grill fro several minutes, until the coloration seen here was achieved. Reapplied more melted butter, cracked over some fresh salt, and voila.
here is the process that i used this morning. the other posters are correct that American biscuits are apparently quite different than what biscuits are elsewhere. as someone else shared with you, I’ve often heard that the closest European equivalent would be a butter scone, but I’ve also heard folks who care more than I about these things that that’s also not exactly 1:1. in any case, it’s a very lightly sweet and buttery quickbread. it has a crispy exterior, and a very soft, tender crumb interior, sometimes with distinct, laminated layers (similar in principle to a croissant). it is equally at home in both savory and sweet applications. this morning, I ate them with elderberry jam, while I served them as a side for beef stew this evening. I used it to sop up the remnants in my bowl. equally delicious.
Thank you!
The fairly high butter content and usage of baking powder kinda explains the texture you described but is also visible in the photo.