Batch Southern Fluffy Biscuit Dough
If you are on this recipe, you are already familiar with biscuit making. You also understand the time and mess it takes to make them. This recipe is 6 times my normal Southern Fluffy Biscuits recipe, based on using a whole 5# bag of flour. You will freeze the biscuits raw, seal them, and freeze them in batches. This will allow you to have biscuits anytime, without the mess every time.
- 2160 g All Purpose Flour (I use King Arthur brand)
- 144 grams Baking Powder (I use Clabber Girl)
- 115 grams Baking Soda
- 36 grams Kosher Salt, Morton brand
- 3 cup Butter, Unsalted (Grass fed, Unsalted)
- 7 cup Half and Half
- 6 tsp White Vinegar, distilled
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Butter, salted (Grass fed, Salted for brushing)
- Food Processor OR Pastry Cutter OR Large Fork
- Rolling Pin OR Clean Wine Bottle
- Sheet Pan (half size)
- Biscuit Cutter
- Pastry Brush
Make sure your butter, lard, or shortening is very cold. It needs to be cold so that it doesn't melt before the dough can set from the heat. When the dough sets first, the fat melts later and keeps the bread light and fluffy with tiny air pockets of moistened dough. If you let the fat get to room temperature or warm before you cook the biscuits, they will not be as airy.
One tip is the freeze the butter and dry ingredients after the butter is cut in. This will keep them cold while working with the dough.
Do not overwork the dough. When the dough comes together in the bowl, pour it out onto the cold counter. Fold and rotate the dough 12 times. If you do this less than 12 times, you may not work the baking powder in properly resulting in a weird aftertaste. If you do this more than 12 times you run the risk of too much gluten forming in the dough, causing a tough biscuit. We call those dumplings or hard rolls, lol.
Make sure your wet ingredients are cold. This will help preserve the physical integrity of the fat.
- Preheat Oven and Getting Started
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Gather your equipment and ingredients.
- Mixing the Dry Ingredients
Let's start with the dry ingredients and cut in the fat. Sift all the dry ingredients together to get them well-mixed. I use kosher salt, but that form is not the ideal texture for the dough, so I grind the salt to a powder before mixing it with flour. If you don't have a mill/grinder, you can crush the salt with the back of a spoon in a small bowl or mortar and pestle until it is crushed.
Since an entire 5# bag of flour will be used, remove 1 cup of flour from the bag and set it aside as your bench flour.
The rest of the flour can now be mixed with the other dry ingredients.
- Cutting in the Fat with a Food ProcessorNext is to cut in the fat. I use a food processor and start with the dry ingredients, cube my cold butter, and add it to the flour. I pulse the processor until the butter has been cut into small pea-sized pieces.
- Cutting in the Fat by HandIf you do this by hand, you can use a pastry cutter or a large fork and keep cutting the butter into the flour until it is the right size.
- Adding the Wet IngredientsNext, mix the water and heavy cream, add most of it to the dry ingredients, and use a large wooden spoon to mix the dough. Use the spoon to keep from touching it with your warm hands. You do not want that butter to get soft. When the dough starts to come together, pour it out onto your counter and quickly fold it 12 times. Keep the folds loose but use that movement to shape the dough ball into an oval or rectangle.
- Rolling Out the DoughUse a rolling pin to roll out the dough ball to a thickness of about 3/4" thick.
- Cutting the BiscuitsUse a biscuit cutter to closely cut the biscuits. Dipping the cutter in flour between each biscuit. Do not twist the cutter. Go straight down and then back up.
- Freezing the Biscuits
Arrange the biscuits on an ungreased sheet pan. Place them together so they are all touching to maximize space on the pan. Cover with another pan, clean tea cloth or parchment paper, and place the pan in the freezer for 2 hrs.
Bagg the frozen biscuits uncooked into the portions you will bake them. If you are using them within 2 weeks, ziplock freezer bags will be fine. If you plan to keep them in the freezer longer, vacuum seal them with parchment paper between any layers to prevent them from sticking together.
Label and date the bags and keep them in your freezer. for up to 10-12 months.
- Thawing a Batch and Arranging Biscuits in Pan
Arrange the biscuits on an ungreased sheet pan. Let them thaw for an hour. You can also let them thaw in the fridge overnight. Place them together if you want them to rise taller or keep them apart for them to rise in all directions.
- Baking the Biscuits
Bake in the middle rack for 13-15 minutes.
- Remove from the Oven
Remove immediately from the oven and brush the tops with melted salted butter.
- Serving the Biscuits
Serve as is, with jam, covered in gravy, or as a sandwich.
