Mile High Buttermilk Biscuits

Being born and raised in the south I grew up on biscuits. Biscuits and gravy, biscuits and jam, biscuits and ham, biscuits and ....more biscuits. When I moved to Utah I heard over and over about the wonderful biscuits at Ruths Diner....and the rumors were TRUE!! Then a few days ago I was poking around the blogging world checking in on some of my favorites and found this yummy recipe on Deals to Meals. OMGosh....they are soooo good.

Ruth's Diners Mile High Biscuits


3 c. flour (I have used 1/2 white flour and 1/2 wheat and they turn our great!)

1 1/2 t. salt

1 T. sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1 stick butter

3/4 c. buttermilk (I have made these with buttermilk as well as the 'homemade' buttermilk version of 3/4 c. milk + 2 T. lemon juice and they work out amazing either way)

1 egg

1/4 c. water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and butter until crumbly. Mix in buttermilk, egg and just enough water to make a workable dough. Mix the dough until it is just barely combined (don't over mix). Roll the dough onto a floured cutting board about 1 inch thick. Cut with a 2 inch biscuit cutter, or a 2 inch round cup. Place on a greased baking sheet (touching each other) and bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 12-15 biscuits, depending how thick you make them.

Tips to making awesome biscuits:

*ONLY hand mix your dough. Don't mix in a Bosch or with a hand mixer. The dough will be too tough and the dough will become dry if you use a mixer. You don't want to over mix this recipe. The best way to mix this dough is with a pastry cutter or using two knives and cutting the dough back and forth. This method takes a little longer but will ensure the perfect biscuit. You want pieces of butter left in your biscuit, that is what keeps the dough light and flaky.

*Next tip is to keep your biscuit dough fairly thick. You want a tall and thick biscuit more than you do a thin and hard biscuit. Keeping the dough thick will ensure a chewy and soft biscuit. I keep my dough about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick (cooking times may vary depending how thick you make them).