Best Biscuits -Top Hat
Big, tall biscuits - crunchy on the outside and tender in the middle!
Tuesdays were Hardee’s Biscuits Day! My girls were young and on the drive to school in North Carolina, it was appropriate that it would be biscuits. Such a simple thing became something we all looked forward to. Tuesday meant - mine with just butter, Alicia’s with jam, Kari’s with honey and little Lindsey, just enough to poke at and mush around. They were big and fluffy with a crisp exterior.
I had never had biscuits like this. Growing up in the West, where the refrigerated can you smacked against the table were as close to biscuits I had come and I wasn’t overly impressed. Later on, I did meet a friend who showed me how she made her biscuits, so I followed suit and they became quite popular in the family, but they were soft and served warm with butter and jam, nothing to turn one’s nose up to.
Then Popeye’s introduced be to a crunchy biscuit bathed in butter and I paid attention, But it wasn’t until another encounter in North Carolina led me to appreciate the true Southern Biscuit. “Sunshine Biscuits” they are called and do make your day a bit brighter! Come to find out, most people had already caught on to the Southern Biscuit and this cross between bread and pastry had immigrated to shops in Seattle and even Portland, Maine.
So now, when someone says “biscuit” they catch my attention and I follow along the bread crumb trail to ….. or …….. I still like mine with just butter and perhaps a bit of jam but I still love my softer, homemade version. I just consider the Southern and the Western two different animals, related by butter!
Best top hat biscuits
4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chilled buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/3 cup turbinado or raw sugar
-Preheat the oven 425 degrees.
-In a large electric mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix briefly until combined. Drop the butter into the flour and mix on low speed, just until the butter is broken down and the mixture is the consistency of coarse bread crumbs.
-Add the buttermilk and mix lightly just until blended. The dough will be a bit rough with bits of unmixed dry ingredients. Press together to form a round disk and place on lightly floured counter, flouring your hands to keep the dough from sticking.
-Gently roll the dough out with a floured rolling pin to about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut out 8 - 9 biscuits using a 3-inch round cutter, dipping the cutter frequently into flour. Push the cutter straight down without twisting so the sides are cut clean which will allow the biscuits to rise higher. (to look like a top hat!)
-Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with a silpad or parchment paper. Brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle each with about a teaspoon of turbinado sugar. Bake the biscuits until golden, about 20 - 25 minutes, checking the bottom of one to make sure it is browned.
-Serve warm or room temperature with butter, jam or honey for breakfast or brunch!
Roll out biscuit dough to 1 1/2 inch thickness. Cut straight with 3 inch ring.
Place on cookie sheet with about 2 inches between each and sprinkle tops with turbinado sugar.
A basket of beautiful golden biscuits!
Serve biscuits with butter, jam, honey or as the biscuit base for strawberry shortcake.
