Recipe Notes
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At 2 inches in diameter, these biscuits are slightly smaller—perfect for serving on the side. You can adjust the biscuit size to your preference, but be sure to arrange them tightly in the pan and watch carefully for doneness.
- There is no need to preheat the cast iron skillet for this recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 tbsp (266g) reclamation gluten-free pastry flour
- 1 tbsp (15g) baking powder
- ¼ tsp (1.4g) baking soda
- ¾ tsp (4.7g) table salt
- 8 tbsp (114g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into ½ inch cubes
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1 cup (240g) buttermilk (full-fat preferred), cold
- melted butter, for brushing (salted or unsalted, as preferred)
Directions
Step 1
Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a 10-inch cast iron skillet.
Step 2
In a large bowl, whisk together the pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined.
Add the cubed butter and toss with the flour to coat. Rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until most of the butter is incorporated and it resembles a coarse meal, but still leaving a few small pieces of butter, no larger than pea-sized. This step can also be done with a pastry blender or a food processor.
Step 3
Slowly drizzle the buttermilk into the flour mixture, constantly tossing the flour mixture with a silicone spatula. Doing this slowly and constantly tossing to expose dry areas will help to evenly moisten the flour mixture and result in a dough that is less wet and sticky.
Continue to gently mix with the spatula, using a cutting and folding motion, until all of the buttermilk is incorporated, and a shaggy dough forms with no dry pockets of flour remaining.
Refrigerate the dough for 10 minutes. This rest allows the pastry flour to hydrate and makes the dough less sticky and easier to handle.
Step 4
Turn the dough out onto a floured silicone pastry mat or other work surface, and dust the top of the dough with additional pastry flour. Using floured hands, gently pat the dough down until it is about ¾ inch thick.
If the bottom of the dough is sticking to the pastry mat, use a bench scraper to loosen the dough and then re-flour the surface.
Use a floured 2-inch biscuit cutter to cut out 14 biscuits, brushing away excess flour from each one, and then arranging in the cast iron pan (10 biscuits should fit in a ring around the outside edge, with 4 biscuits in the middle). Clean the biscuit cutter with a paper towel and re-flour as needed.
Step 5
Bake the biscuits for 16 - 19 minutes, or until the tops are a light golden brown, and the insides read around 204° on an instant-read digital thermometer.
Remove from the oven and brush the tops with melted butter while still warm. Let the biscuits cool for at least 15 minutes before serving–this gives the starches time to set and will improve their texture.
