Honey on a razor blade: Biscuits: flaky

2021-02-07

Biscuits: flaky

This recipe from King Arthur Flour uses cold butter for a flaky texture; this is what enticed me: "Using cold butter and working it into the flour until the mixture is unevenly crumbly, on the other hand, will result in higher-rising biscuits that are 'layered' and flaky". There are lots of other good technique tips and suggestions in that article.

Starting to flake inside, easy to split with a fork

360 g 3 C All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 Tbs Baking Powder

85 g 6 Tbs Butter, cold
230 g 1 C Milk, cold (more as needed)

Preheat oven to 425F or 400F convection.

Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Whisk together the dry ingredients.

Cut in the Butter with a fork, pastry cutter, or food processor to get an uneven crumbly mixture like breadcrumbs.

Drizzle in the Milk and mix gently and quickly until it becomes cohesive; if it's too dry, add more Milk, but don't knead it or it will become tough.

Turn it out onto a floured counter.

Roll it into a rectangle 2cm / 3/4-inch thick;

fold in thirds like an envelope and repeat the roll.

Cut into 12 squares or rectangles; cutting circles will require re-rolling which will toughen the biscuits.

Place on parchment-lined sheet pan, brush with butter or milk, and bake 15-20 minutes until light brown.

Didn't rise as much as I expected

2021-02-07 Used food processor, didn't get breadcrumb texture, perhaps it's too aggressive. Didn't rise much. Took > 20 minutes with 400F convection. Interior was very slightly gummy. Doh! I used 1 tsp instead of 1 Tbs Baking Powder, 1/3 what I needed! Next time use the correct amount of (fresh) Baking Powder; consider cutting in butter by hand.

Attempt #2 with proper amount of baking powder

2021-02-14 This time I used 3 Tbs baking powder, but they still didn't rise enough, certainly not like the King Arthur photos; Irene said she could taste the levener. What am I doing wrong? The baking powder expired almost a year ago, but it was a can I just opened today, and it's worked for Irene's baking. This time I also did an extra fold and roll to even the edges; was it overworked? I didn't add the Sugar the original recipe requested, but I don't believe the chemical reaction needs it. Again, I didn't brush with Milk or Butter. And this time too I used the food processor and did not get the "breadcrumb" texture.