A Sweet Summer Treat For Every Day Of The Week
April 29, 2021Ice Cream and Waffles
June 10, 2021I call these Bauer House Biscuits because they fall somewhere between a biscuit and a Parker House roll. They are buttery and crispy on the outside and a dream inside. The yeast dough and the butter create pockets of air and rise. Light yet hearty, buttery yet yeasty, these biscuits are perfection. I think you’re gonna love them.
If you really want to impress your friends, serve them as savory ice cream sandwiches. Just split in half and stuff with a scoop of ice cream (like our Boston Cream Pie). If you really want to shoot this dessert into another dimension, top with macerated berries and honey whipped cream.
Bauer House Biscuits
Light and fluffy biscuits, perfect for ice cream sandwiches or as berry biscuit cakes, with berries and ice cream.
Makes about a dozen biscuits
- ¼ ounce (1 packet) active dry yeas
- ¼ cup lukewarm water (105° to 115°F)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3¼ cups self-rising flour, preferably White Lily bleached
- 6 tablespoons (¾ stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
- 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, softened, for the tops of the biscuits
Combine the yeast, lukewarm water, and 1 teaspoon of the sugar in a medium bowl. Set aside until the yeast looks foamy, about 10 minutes.
Stir together the flour and the remaining 5 teaspoons sugar in a large bowl. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut in the butter until the mixture looks mealy. (Alternatively, combine the flour, sugar, and butter in a food processor and pulse about 20 times, until the mixture looks mealy.)
Stir the buttermilk into the dissolved yeast. Using a fork, stir in the flour mixture just until it is moistened and you have a shaggy dough. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 3 days.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and knead it briefly, about 8 turns, until it comes together and the surface looks smooth. On a very lightly floured surface, roll it out into a 7-by-11-inch rectangle about ¾ inch thick, flouring the rolling spin sparingly as needed. Brush any excess flour off the dough and fold one short end over the center of the dough, then fold over the other end so that the dough is folded into thirds. Turn the dough one turn so that a short end is toward you and roll out to about ¾ inch thick. Brush off any excess flour and fold the dough into thirds again. Turn the dough once again and gently roll out to about ½ inch thick; the finished rectangle will be about 7 inches by 11 inches.
With a 2-inch round cutter, stamp out 12 biscuits. Be sure that the dough is still very cold (chill it if necessary), so that the cutter cuts cleanly; if the dough is too soft, the cutter can seal the sides and the biscuits won’t rise. And be careful not to twist the cutter, or the biscuits will rise unevenly.
Arrange the biscuits in an ungreased 9-inch round cake pan, 10 around the outside and 2 in the middle. Gather the scraps together, roll out, and cut more biscuits. Put these in a smaller pan for a treat for you or your little ones—they won’t look perfect, but they will still taste good. Cover the biscuits with a damp lint-free towel and let rise in a warm place (about 80°F) until they have doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
Note: The biscuits can also be cut into 2-inch squares and baked in a 9-by-9-inch pan.
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Bake the biscuits until they are golden brown on top, about 13 minutes. Remove the biscuits from the oven, slather them with the softened butter, and let cool before serving.