Folks in all the years I have been working with Einkorn I have yet to produce what I call a truly “fluffy” biscuit. Most of the time they turn out to be little hockey pucks. But alas we have finally hit pay dirt. I am always looking for more ways to improve my work with Einkorn. So I decided to just search the internet for “fluffy biscuit recipes” and lo and behold I found a nice little blog called Boston Girl Bakes. Now she does not use Einkorn nor my organic ingredients and does her mixing by hand but nonetheless I was able to replicate her recipe with a few tweaks of my own and produce truly fluffy einkorn biscuits. My daughter Ashley actually asked for the recipe and she too was able to make fluffy biscuits using the basic instructions from the blogger BGB and the minor adjustments I made. So here is the key. All ingredients need to be freezing cold, your oven needs to be very hot and you fold the dough rather than mix the dough. You do not want to over work the dough. Cutting your biscuits is important as well so take care to just push your cutter through the dough but DO NOT twist the cutter. Simply cut and remove. Follow these steps and you will produce truly fluffy biscuits I promise. Here is the recipe:
2 cups (240 grams) Einkorn All Purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons (86 grams) ice, cold butter cut into 1/4’ pieces
*** 1/2-3/4 cup buttermilk (save a little for brushing the tops of the biscuits before popping into the oven). The recipe originally called for a whole cup of buttermilk but it becomes too wet so I have reduced it down starting with 1/2 cup and if needed 3/4c and this works much better. ****
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bowl of your food processor place the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pulse the mixture three or four times to get everything combined. Evenly distribute the butter chunks and pulse the food processor 10 times. Do not to be tempted to over mix. The butter should still be visible in pea sized chunks. Add the freezing cold buttermilk and pulse 10 times more. The dough will be slightly wet and sticky. Empty the contents onto a piece of parchment paper using a stiff spatula if necessary. Lightly dust the top of the dough and using the parchment paper gather the dough to form a round ball. Do not use a rolling pin but rather use your hands to roll out the dough out to 1/2’ circle. Fold the dough over itself and pat it out again. Do this for a total of three times and then take your biscuit cutter and cut out as many biscuits (more or less depending on the size you choose) as you can. (Do the exact same thing with the scraps) DO NOT TWIST the cutter. Simply cut and lift. Place the biscuits next to each other in rows of three. Brush with the dregs of buttermilk and you are ready. Now this step is optional but I placed my biscuits in the freezer for about 10 minutes to give the butter a chance to firm up again. Then right into the hot oven. Bake for 13-15 minutes until tops are golden. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack. You can serve warm or cool completely and freeze the biscuits for a future date. *to make buttermilk add 1 tablespoon of either apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to cold milk. Let sit for 5 minutes then use as directed.*