Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe From West Town Tavern

Ingredients

• 2 cups cake flour, plus a little more for sprinkling
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1 cup buttermilk, plus 2 tablespoons for brushing

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. Place a dry, 10-inch cast iron skillet in the oven to heat. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir with your hands or a wire whisk to distribute the powder, soda and salt. Add the shortening and toss with your hands, a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture resembles coarse sand with pea-sized bits of fat.
2. Add 1 cup of buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon until a cohesive dough forms. Sprinkle cake flour onto a work surface. Transfer the dough onto the floured surface and knead gently and quickly, making four or five turns to distribute the fat and smooth the dough. Pat quickly into a half-inch-thick disk.
3. Using a 2½-inch biscuit cutter (or 2½-inch diameter drinking glass sprinkled with flour), cut biscuits straight down. Gather scraps together and cut more biscuits, handling the dough gently and working quickly.
4. Slide the pan out of oven and place the biscuits, sides touching, in the pan, starting from the outside. Brush tops of biscuits with the remaining 2 tablespoons of buttermilk and slide the pan back into the oven. Bake the biscuits until the tops are golden brown about 13 to 15 minutes. When cooked, turn the pan upside-down and drop biscuits onto a waiting napkin-lined plate. Let cool 5 minutes before eating.