The best buttermilk biscuits in the area right now come from a surprising place: St. Anselm, the cool-kid steakhouse near Union Market (and now also: your oven). Flaky, sprinkled with crunchy shards of Maldon salt, and very, very buttery, they’re fashioned from an easy-to-make dough that freezes beautifully. We can’t imagine a happier thing to wake up to. Or as chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley puts it: “If you bake someone biscuits for breakfast, you’re basically saying, ‘I love you.’ ”
Makes 24 biscuits:
- 1 1/4 pounds unsalted butter, frozen and either grated or cut into small pieces
- 5 cups flour, plus more for dusting your work surface
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 cups buttermilk, kept very cold
- 1/4 pound butter, melted, for brushing
- Maldon salt, as needed
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients and freeze for at least 1 hour. Mix in the butter and freeze for another 30 minutes. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and set at medium speed, add in the buttermilk and mix until incorporated.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Mold the dough into a 1-inch-thick rectangle. Fold in thirds and, using a rolling pin, flatten into another inch-thick rectangle. Repeat the folding and flattening three more times. Roll the dough to a half inch thick. Cut into 2½-inch squares. Freeze or, if making them to serve right away, place the biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 11 minutes; rotate the pan and bake 11 minutes more. Brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with Maldon salt.
This article appears in the November 2019 issue of Washingtonian.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
