Flying Biscuits!

Similar to the Flying Biscuit Cafe - Gainesville, FL

From Southern Biscuits by Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided


1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder


1/2 teaspoon salt


4 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided


3/4 cup chilled butter, roughly cut into 1/2-inch pieces


1 cup heavy cream, divided


2/3 cup half-and-half


1 tablespoon heavy cream, for brushing


Softened butter, for brushing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Select the baking pan by determining if a soft or crisp exterior is desired. For a soft exterior, us an 8- or 9-inch cake pan, pizza pan, or ovenproof skillet where the biscuits will nestle together snugly, creating the soft exterior while baking. For a crisp exterior, select a baking sheet or other baking pan where the biscuits can be placed wider apart, allowing air to circulate and creating a crisper exterior, and brush the pan with butter.

Fork-sift or whisk 3 cups of flour, baking powder, salt, and 3 tablespoons of sugar in a large bowl, preferably wider than it is deep, and set aside the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Scatter the pieces of chilled butter over the flour, and work in by rubbing fingers with the butter and flour as if snapping thumb and fingers together (or use two forks or knives, or a pastry cutter) until the mixture looks like well-crumbled feta cheese, with no piece larger than a pea. Shake the bowl occasionally to allow the larger pieces of fat to bounce to the top of the flour, revealing the largest lumps that still need rubbing. If this method took longer than 5 minutes, place the bowl in the refrigerator for 5 minutes to rechill the fat.

Make a deep hollow in the center of the flour with the back of your hand. Mix 2/3 cup of heavy cream with the half-and-half, reserving the remaining heavy cream. Pour the cream mixture into the hollow, and stir with a rubber spatula or large metal spoon, using broad circular strokes to quickly pull the flour into the liquid. Mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened and the sticky dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If there is some flour remaining on the bottom and sides of the bowl, stir in 1 to 4 tablesoppons of reserved cream, just enough to incorporate the remaining flour into the shaggy wettish dough. If the dough is too wet, use more flour when shaping.

Lightly sprinkle a board or other clean surface using some of the reserved flour. Turn the dough out onto the board, and sprinkle the top lightly with flour. With floured hands, fold the dough in half, and pat dough out into a 1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick round, using a little additional flour only if needed. Flour again if necessary, and fold the dough in half a second time. If the dough is still clumpy, pat and fold a third time. Pat dough out into a 1/2-inch-thick round for a normal biscuit, 3/4-inch-thick for a tall biscuit, and 1-inch-thick for a giant bisucit. Brush off any visible flour from the top. For each biscuit, dip a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter into the reserved flour, and cut out the biscuits, starting at the outside edge and cutting very close together, being careful not to twist the cutter. The scraps may be combined to make additional biscuits, although these scraps make tougher biscuits.

Makes 18 to 20 biscuits.  You can cut this recipe down, but why would you?  So good!