Ingredients

1 pound and 10 ounces bleached all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons baking powder

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

3 ounces cold unsalted butter

2½ cups buttermilk or sour milk*, plus more for brushing

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 500°. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
  2. Cut half of the butter into thin sheets and place them in the freezer.
  3. Blend the remaining butter into the flour mixture with your hands. Work quickly, blending until the flour resembles very coarse meal with a few pea-size lumps. With a rubber spatula, mix the buttermilk or sour milk into the flour and butter just until a dough begins to form.
  4. Dump dough onto a floured work surface and pat it into a rough rectangle about ¼ inch thick. Lay the slices of frozen butter on top, then fold the dough over twice (as if you were folding a letter in thirds). Press down gently on the dough until it’s about ¾ inch thick. Use a 2½-inch biscuit cutter to punch out biscuits (do not twist the cutter). Place biscuits onto a greased baking sheet and brush the tops with milk.
  5. Bake the biscuits for 13 to 18 minutes, until risen, golden and light. If they feel wet or heavy, bake them longer.
  • To make sour milk, combine 2½ cups of whole milk with 2½ tablespoons of white vinegar.