Recipe Background
These are Momma's Crunchy-Bottomed Biscuits with a flaky finish.
The first time I baked these biscuits, I was living in a little apartment, fresh out of college. It was the first time I had a kitchen all to myself, and I wanted to make something reminiscent of home. I remember Sunday mornings with my family, where Momma would whip up her famous biscuits, and we'd gather at the table together. Grating frozen butter was her secret, a trick she passed down. It keeps those biscuits light and flaky, a tip I'll never forget.
On that first morning in my new space, I warmed a cast-iron skillet, which had been my grandmother's hand-me-down. There's something nostalgic about pulling that skillet from the oven and spreading softened butter with memories tucked inside each stroke. As the biscuits baked, the delectable aroma filled the air, reminding me that home is not just a place but a feeling. Brushing the tops with melted butter was the final touch, bringing a golden finish to something already so full of love.
Those crunchy-bottomed biscuits quickly became my go-to for weekend brunches with friends. They couldn't believe I had made them from scratch. Keeping the dough cold throughout the process is key—another gem from Momma's kitchen wisdom. Moments like these remind me how food connects us, bridging distances and generations over simple, warm, inviting bites.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter frozen, plus 2 tablespoons, melted, plus more, to taste, softened, for greasing the skillet, divided
- 2 1/2 cups self-rising flour plus more, to taste, for flouring a work surface, rolling pin, and biscuit cutter
- 1 cup buttermilk chilled
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.
- Grate the frozen butter using the large holes of a box grater.
- Toss the grated butter and 2 1/2 cups of the flour together in a medium bowl.
- Chill the butter-flour mixture for 10 minutes.
- Make a well in the center of the butter-flour mixture.
- Add the buttermilk to the well and stir the mixture 15 times; the dough will be sticky.
- Lightly dust a work surface with the flour. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface and then lightly sprinkle some of the flour over the top of the dough.
- Lightly dust a rolling pin with the flour and roll the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle (about 9x5-inches in size).
- Fold the dough in half so the short ends meet.
- Repeat the rolling and folding process four more times. Try to keep the dough as cold as possible throughout the entire process.
- Roll the dough to 1/2-inch thickness.
- Lightly dust a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter with the flour. Cut the dough with the floured cutter, reshaping the scraps and flouring as needed.
- Warm a cast-iron skillet in the oven.
- Spread a pat of the softened butter in the skillet before adding the biscuits.
- Place the dough rounds in the skillet.
- Bake until the biscuits are lightly browned, about 15 minutes.
- Brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter.
- Serve.
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