Our Expert: Miranda Valentine

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Miranda Valentine blogs about food and lifestyle at Everything Sounds Better in French. Miranda graduated from the University of Southern Maine and earned her master's degree from the University of Southern California. She works as a contributing writer for Bunker Hill Magazine and Joonbug.com's LA edition.

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What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 cups self-rising flour
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup butter or margarine
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • Extra flour
Equipment
  • Oven
  • Large bowl
  • Spatula
  • 2 butter knives or pastry blender
  • Cutting board
  • Baking sheet
  • 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter
Recipe Details
Servings: 10-12
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF (218ºC). Toss the two cups of flour and the baking soda in a large bowl. 

2. Using two butter knives or pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse, dime-sized crumbs. Don't cut the butter pieces any smaller than that.

3. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the buttermilk into the well. Stir to combine but don't overmix.

4. Use the extra flour to lightly flour the cutting board to prevent the dough from sticking. Pour the dough mixture onto the cutting board. Make the dough into a ball. 

5. Quickly knead the dough by gently folding and pressing it 10 to 12 times or until nearly smooth.

6. Roll the dough out to half-inch thickness. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out 10 to 12 dough circles. Line the circles up one inch apart from each other on the lightly greased baking sheet.

7. Bake the biscuits in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Remove and let cool.

Tips
  • Don't worry about having too much flour on the cutting board. The dough won't absorb any more flour than it can take.
  • Unlike cookies, you cannot use the leftover dough to make any more biscuits. If you refold it and stick it back together, the finished product will not have flaky layers.
Enjoy!