Buttery Biscuits Made With Fresh Milled Flour
Conquering Buttery Biscuits made from pure unsifted fresh milled flour is no easy task! If you have tried to make them before, chances are you know exactly what I am talking about. I have tried so many biscuit recipes, than I lost count. But, I finally mastered it! The perfect biscuit! It's a little crunchy on the outside, but soft on the inside finished off to buttery perfection! You can make them with buttermilk, but never fear, if you don't have any on hand, my recipe shows a quick easy trick! Let's get to making biscuits!
Ingredients
- 3.5 cups fresh milled flour 420g I milled about 2&1/4 cups soft white wheat berries
- Mill a little extra flour for your work surface also (maybe 50g, 1/2 cup flour = 1/4 cup wheat berries)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch 32g or potato starch
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 TBSP baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 cup sugar 30g
- 1 cup cold cubed butter 226g plus 2 TBSP melted butter for brushing on the top
- 1 &1/4 cups whole milk 302g
- 1 TBSP vinegar to add to the milk- OR you can use buttermilk in place of milk & vinegar
Instructions
- Add vinegar to milk, and set aside. -It will start to curdle, that is normal. (If you are using buttermilk instead, you can skip this step.)
- Mill the soft white wheat flour.
- Add cornstarch, salt, baking powder, sugar, and baking soda to the flour, and stir with a fork or whisk until combined.
- Cube cold butter into smaller pieces. Add butter pieces to the flour, and cut it in with a pastry cutter or large fork. Mix & cut until flour and butter resembles small pieces, (pea size or even some pieces a bit larger than a pea.)
- Make a small well in the center of the flour mixture, and pour most of the milk mixture in the well. Mix, and add more into the dry flour. All the flour should be incorporated, and no dry flour should be left, but it shouldn't be so sticky that it is soupy. As it sits, the flour will absorb a bit more liquid, so you don't want it too dry. See video
- Cover dough, and let sit in the fridge for 15 minutes, up to overnight. (If you want to prepare the night before.)
- Preheat Oven to 450*F
- Mill the extra flour for your work surface.
- On a lightly floured surface, Press or roll out dough to be about 1/2 inch thick. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour. Cut dough in half, and place one half on top of the other, and gently press down.
- Then, dip your biscuit cutter into some flour so it won't stick. And cut out 3 inch biscuits. Try to press straight down with a sharp edge, and not twist the cutter.
- Place cut biscuit onto a buttered cast iron pan. (You can use a parchment paper lined baking sheet as well.)
- Continue until you can't cut anymore. Then, reconfigure your dough, and repeat steps 9-11 until there is no dough left. The last biscuit always looks a little wonky - don't worry that one is just the cook's taste tester biscuit! *wink wink. lol
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the tops have browned, and they are cooked through.
- Melt 2 TBSP butter, and brush the tops of the biscuits as they come out of the oven.
Video
Notes
Storing These Biscuits- I think it is fairly well known that the best way to enjoy a biscuit is fresh! So, they don't hold super well overnight. My best suggestion is to let them cool, and place in a freezer safe container or bag, and freeze for up to 3-4 months. Let them thaw at room temperature, and just quickly heat up in the microwave to serve warm.