Bake Your Cravings

Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

2 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp vegetable shortening chilled and cut in 1/2 inch cubes
8 Tbsp unsalted butter chilled and cut in 1/8 inch slices floured plus 2 Tbsp butter melted and cooled
1 3/4 cup buttermilk chilled

Heat oven to 450°. Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add shortening to the flour mixture and press the chunks flat into the flour with your fingertips. Add butter slices a few at a time and press with your fingers into flat nickel size pieces until all the butter is incorporated. Freeze bowl for 15 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Spray 24 in squares counter space with oil and then wipe with paper towel to even it over the counter. Flour the counter and then even out the flour coating with your hands. Add 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp chilled buttermilk to the biscuit mixture stirring briskly with a fork, careful not to overwork the dough. Shape the  dough into a rectangle, and then fold the edges of the dough towards the middle in thirds like a letter. Turn your rectangle though a quarter turn and roll it back out to original size and repeat the folding and turning. Do this one more time. Roll the dough out to 1 inch thick and use a 3 inch circle cutter to get the biscuit out and onto the baking pan. Flour the biscuit cutter each time before you use it and never twist the cutter in the dough. Brush the tops of the biscuits with remaining buttermilk. The biscuits rise well when they are all touching and can be cooked in a Dutch oven pan. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.