Email to Cat      

Baking Powder Biscuits

Source of Recipe

From "Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook" by Martha Stewart


Recipe Introduction

"These rich, flaky biscuits are best eaten warm from the oven. As with all biscuits, it's important not to overwork the dough while you are patting it out."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
â—¦ 2 tablespoons baking powder
â—¦ 2 teaspoons sugar
â—¦ 1 teaspoon salt
â—¦ 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
â—¦ 2 cups heavy cream, plus more for brushing


Recipe

Preheat the oven to 400° F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining.

Pour in the heavy cream; using a rubber spatula, fold cream into the dough, working in all directions and incorporating crumbs at the bottom of the bowl, until the dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured fingers, gently pat the dough into a round about 1 inch thick, pressing in any loose bits. Do not overwork the dough. Use a floured 2 ¼-inch round biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits as close together as possible. (Use one cut edge as the edge for the next biscuit.) Place the biscuits on an unlined baking sheet about 1 ½ inches apart. Generously brush the tops of the biscuits with cream. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the biscuits are golden and flecked with brown spots, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 1 dozen