Buttermilk Biscuits

I love biscuits.  The best biscuits I have ever had were from the Flying Biscuit in Atlanta.  Flaky, moist, buttery, omg I loved that place.  I don't know why I was under the mistaken impression that biscuits were difficult to make, they're seriously so easy.  Biscuits are such a great addition to so many meals, last night I made these to compliment leftover soup.

This recipe is from Sarabeth's Bakery cookbook, it's fantastically easy and produces light and fluffy biscuits with a glorious buttery flavour.  As Sarabeth explains, the key to a good biscuit is to minimize handling.  I was very careful to follow her instructions to the letter.  Mine were not as pretty as her's but hey, it's my first try at biscuits so give me a break.

The biscuits even tasted great the next day, I find most pre-made biscuits are more like hockey puck if not eaten immediately.  Mmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about these, I think I'll make more for breakfast tomorrow!

Buttermilk Biscuits
from Sarabeth's Bakery

Yield: 16 biscuits
Ingredients:

• 3 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons superfine sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 ½ cups buttermilk

Preparation:
Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper.
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together into the bowl of a heavy duty stand mixer. Attach the bowl to the mixer and fit with the paddle attachment. Add the butter. Mix on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size pieces of butter. Add the buttermilk, mixing just until the dough barely comes together.
Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until the dough is smooth. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and roll out a little more than ¾ inch thick. Using a 2 ¼-inch fluted biscuit cutter, dipping the cutter into flour between cuts, cut out the biscuits and place 1 inch apart on the pan. Gently press the scraps together (do not overhandle the dough). Repeat rolling and cutting.
Bake until the biscuits are well risen and golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Serve hot or way. To reheat the biscuits, wrap them in aluminum foil in bake in a preheated 350°F oven for about 10 minutes.