Buttermilk Angel Biscuits

Another very overdone recipe, but biscuits are such basic comfort food that I would never scoff at them. Not only can you serve them fresh from the oven with delicious, creamy, warm white gravy with sausage (vegetarian, of course......), but you can also use biscuit dough to top a casserole, making a delicious soft, crunchy topping, or to make delicious dumplings for a stew. I loooooooove biscuits, and I hope that after you try these that you will, too.

I'm so excited! I FINALLY got the Bon Appetit, Y'all cookbook in the mail yesterday, and I have fallen in love with it. The Southern-with-a-French flair recipes all look so delicious, and I want to go and make all of them Right Now! I adapted this biscuit recipe from that book, and everyone in my family loved them. These biscuits are special because they use both yeast and baking powder as leavening agents. This produces a much softer and fluffier biscuit than just baking powder alone, and if you let the dough rest in the refrigerator for a few days (which I'll probably try next time), they take on a fabulous sourdough flavor. The buttermilk reacts with the small amount of baking soda to make the biscuits rise higher than normal.

Buttermilk Angel Biscuits (from Bon Appetit Y'all by Virginia Willis)

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water (100-110 degrees F)
1/4 cup sugar
6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
and rolling pin
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup solid vegetable shortening (Crisco preferred)
cut into bits
2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. In a liquid measuring cup, combine yeast, water, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Set aside until mixture becomes creamy and foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together flour, remaining sugar, baking pwder, baking soda, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut shortening into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Add yeast mixture and butter and stir until dough just comes together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead 5 or 6 times: dough should be soft and moist. Return dough to bowl, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight or up to 1 week. ( I just let it rise at room temperature for an hour)
   
4. Turn dough out onto a heavily floured work surface. Knead dough about 10 times. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough out to 1/3 inch thickness. (I like my biscuits very tall, so I rolled it out 1 inch thick) Using a 2 1/4-inch cutter, cut biscuits as close together as possible. Gather dough scraps and place one on top of the other. Knead and roll out dough again. Stamp out as many biscuits as possible. Discard remaining scraps.
5. Arrange biscuits, with sides touching, on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and set aside to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Bake biscuits until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve warm.

Supposedly, this recipe makes 36 biscuits, but I only got about 16 because I made them bigger than the recipe said to.