Picnic Perfect Buttery Biscuits
When I was little, I used to eat Pillsbury biscuits layer by layer, peeling and eating a buttery layer at a time. I’m not sure what it was, but those layers really brought a normal canned biscuit into stardom! These Picnic Perfect Buttery Biscuits are not only buttery (as biscuits should be!) but they also have layers upon layers upon layers! Mixed in are flavorings of garlic bread with garlic, parsley, and Parmesan cheese. These Picnic Perfect Biscuits aren’t hard to make, but you need to keep the ingredients cold, work the dough a bit, have patience, and trust in the process.
This recipe makes about 6 biscuits. I made 3 batches (minus a few biscuits that I couldn’t help but gobble down steaming hot from the oven) to bring to an afternoon picnic. I made the batches over a course of two weeks, and kept them, already cut into shape, in the freezer. Then the morning of the picnic, I baked them all up, tossed them into a picnic basket, and placed a towel over them. I also brought butter and my Pandan Lemon Curd to go with the biscuits. They were a hit!
Tips
- I recommend using a food processor or high-powered blender to pulse the butter and flour mixture together. If you don’t have a food processor of high-powered blender, you can grate your butter. I’ve done it both ways. A machine makes things so much easier and saves you from any accidental knuckle scrapes!
- I used a non-dairy milk and it worked just fine. Most people think of buttermilk when making biscuits, so feel free to use buttermilk if that makes you happy.
- I used garlic, parsley, and Parmesan cheese as my mix-ins. Other alternatives are scallions, other types of cheeses, and bacon. You can get creative, generally with anything that can be cut into small pieces and are relatively dry (so you don’t add too much moisture to your dough).
- If your dough seems wet and sticky after mixing in all the ingredients. Mix in a little bit more flour before rolling it out. If your dough is too wet, you’ll still get great tasting biscuits, but the dough will be harder to work with and you might not get as nice of layers.
- Bake up the edge scrapes as a mini snacks. You can even roll them up into fun shapes.
Picnic Perfect Buttery Biscuits
Ingredients
Compound Butter
- 1½ stick Butter, room temp or slightly softened
- ⅓ cup Grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp Minced fresh parsley
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
Biscuit
- 300 g All purpose flour
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- ¼ tsp Baking soda
- 2 tsp Granulated sugar
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 2 sticks Compound butter (from above)
- 170 g Cold oat milk (You can substitute with other milks. If using buttermilk, you don't need to add the lemon juice.)
- 2 tsp Lemon juice
Instructions
Compound Butter
- Mix together butter, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and garlic. Mix until well combined. Freeze until butter is hardened. (This can be made ahead of time.)
Biscuits
- Stir the oat milk and lemon juice together in a cup. Let sit for a few minutes in the refrigerator to keep cold while continuing with the next steps.
- Combine all the dry ingredients in bowl.
- In a food processor or high-powered blender, pulse the compound butter with the dry ingredients until it is sandy in texture with a few pieces the size of peas. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Pour the milk lemon mixture into the butter flour mixture. Stir with a spoon, until combined. If there are dry bits at the bottom of the bowl, use your hands to knead the dough together. The dough should be a bit on the dry side.
- Pour the dough onto a lightly floured work area forming a cohesive dough mound. Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin. The shape and thickness doesn't matter much at this point, but roll until about 1/2 inch thick.
- Fold the dough like a letter, folding the top third toward the center and then the bottom third toward the center, on top of the first third. (see video)
- Rotate dough 90 degrees. Then roll out the dough again and repeat the folding and rotating. Repeat 3-4 more times. As you repeat this process, you're dough should become rectangular.
- After the final fold, roll the dough to a thickness of about 1-1.5 inches. Freeze the dough for about an hour.
- With a sharp knife, cut the edges off the dough. This will allow for a more even rise and allow the layers to show. Cut the dough into desired shapes (6 square biscuits or 4-8 triangular biscuits).
- If you're prepping ahead and plan to bake these later, wrap your dough and freeze. When you're ready to bake, continue with next step.
- Brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with a bit of course salt. Bake at 425F for about 20-25 min. Rotate your pan midway if your biscuits aren't browning evenly.