Frozen Buttermilk Biscuits
source: It's Always Freezer Season (p. 57, Kindle edition). Christensen, Ashley; Goalen, Kaitlyn.
Biscuits are one of those rare things that actually improve when frozen (pie dough and cookie dough also fall into this category). It’s likely about the butter.
For this recipe, we use the grated frozen butter method. This technique suspends little butter flakes throughout the dough, which rise and create flaky pastry during cooking.
Freezing the dough before baking ensures the fat and milk solids stay put (essential for creating a flaky result).
Biscuits bake quickly and can lean sweet or savory with ease. Use them to top a blueberry cobbler, or treat your biscuit dough like gnocchi, slicing it into small pillows or dumplings.
Ingredients
Dough
- 2½ lbs self-rising flour (9 cups), plus more if needed
- 1 tbsp (18g) kosher salt
- 1 lb unsalted butter, frozen
- 4 cups whole buttermilk
Self-Rising Flour Substitute
If you don't have self-rising flour, whisk these into the flour as well:
- 14tsp (43g) baking powder
- 4.5tsp (27g) kosher salt
Directions
Making the Biscuits
In a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt.
Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture, stirring and coating the butter with flour as you grate. Once all of the butter is in, use a pastry blender to distribute the butter evenly in the flour. It should have a pebbly texture.
Next, pour in the buttermilk and, using your hands, incorporate it with the flour mixture until a shaggy dough ball forms.
Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and, still using your hands, carefully pat it into a loaf shape, incorporating more flour as needed until the dough is not sticky and is easy to manipulate. Gently pat the dough out into an even layer about ¾ inch thick.
Using a 2½-inch round biscuit cutter, and firmly pressing straight down (without twisting the cutter), punch out as many biscuits as possible.
Gather up the dough scraps and gently form into a ball. Press the dough out into a ¾-inch-thick layer and repeat to punch out more biscuits until you have about 24 total.
Freezing
Arrange the cut biscuit dough on a rimmed baking sheet and freeze for at least 4 hours or up to overnight for a formative freeze. Transfer to a gallon-size zip-top plastic bag, label and date, and freeze for up to 4 months.
Baking
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the biscuits, with their edges touching, on a rimmed baking sheet and top each with a small pat of butter. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes from room temperature or 14 to 16 minutes from frozen, until puffed and golden brown on top.
Variants
Biscuit Dumplings or “Gnocchi”
Instead of punching out the biscuit dough into rounds, cut it into strips about ¾ inch wide. Then cut each strip crosswise into 1-inch-long pieces (they’ll look like little dough pillows). Freeze as directed for the biscuits.
Orange Biscuits
In a medium bowl, combine ½ cup granulated sugar and the finely grated zest of 2 oranges. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar is damp like wet sand.
Mix the sugar with the flour and salt at the beginning of the recipe and proceed as written.
While the biscuits are in the oven, make a glaze:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, ½ cup fresh orange juice, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and the finely grated zest of 2 oranges.
Bring the mixture to a simmer and let cook for about 6 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
Whisk in 8 ounces softened cream cheese until the glaze is smooth.
Let the biscuits cool for 10 minutes after removing them from the oven.
Then drizzle some of the glaze over each biscuit before serving.