Biscuits I - from Professional Baking 4th edition

I just found a biscuit recipe that uses bread flour and pastry flour. It is in the book "Professional Baking" by Wayne Gisslen, so there must be a good reason for mixing the two flours. Maybe, even though they are mixed, they each add their own unique qualities to the biscuit dough. These are American Southern Biscuits (a quick bread similar to scones) not British biscuits (cookies).

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Here is the recipe



Biscuits I - from Professional Baking 4th edition



1 1/2 cups Bread Flour (200g)

1 1/2 cups Pastry Flour (200g)

1 1/4 tsp Table Salt (8g)

1 2/3 Tbsp Sugar (20g)

2 1/3 Tbsp Baking Powder (24g)

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp Shortening and/or butter (140g)

1 cup plus 1 1/2 Tbsp Milk (266g)



Scaling Approximately 1 lb (450g) per dozen 2-inch biscuits

(This recipe will make about 24 - 2-inch biscuits)



Procedure—Biscuit Method



1. Scale (measure) all ingredients accurately.



2. Sift the dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl.



3. Cut in the shortening, using the paddle attachment or the pastry

knife attachment; if you prefer, cut in the fat by hand, using a

pastry blender or your fingers. Continue until the mixture

resembles a coarse cornmeal.



4. Combine the liquid ingredients.



5. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients. Mix just until the ingredients

are combined and a soft dough is formed. Do not overmix.



6. Bring the dough to the bench and knead it lightly by pressing it out

and folding it in half. Rotate the dough 90 degrees between folds.



7. Repeat this procedure about 10 to 20 times, or for about 30

seconds. The dough should be soft and slightly elastic, but not

sticky. Overkneading toughens the biscuits.

The dough is now ready for makeup.



Makeup of Biscuits



1. Roll out the biscuit dough into a sheet about 1 ⁄ 2 in. (1 cm) thick, being

careful to roll it evenly and to a uniform thickness.

Biscuits approximately double in height during baking.



2. Cut into desired shapes.

When using round hand cutters,cut straight down.Do not twist the cutter.

Space the cuts as closely as possible to minimize scraps. Reworked scrap

dough produces tougher biscuits.

Cutting into squares or triangles with a pastry cutter knife eliminates

scraps that would have to be rerolled. Roller cutters also eliminate or

reduce scraps.



3. Place the biscuits 1 ⁄ 2 in. (1 cm) apart on greased or paper-lined baking

sheets. For softer biscuits without crusty sides, arrange the units so that

they touch each other; these must be broken apart after baking.



4. If desired,brush the tops with egg wash or milk to aid browning.



5. Bake as soon as possible.



Baking (in a pre-heated oven)

425 F (218 C) about 15 - 20 minutes (biscuits are done when they reach 190F [87.7C] internal temperature)



Variations

Changes in the basic procedure produce different characteristics

in the finished product:



1. Using slightly more shortening and cutting it in less—only until

the pieces are the size of peas—produces a flakier biscuit.



2. Omitting the kneading step produces very tender, crusty biscuits,

but with less volume.



Variations



Buttermilk Biscuits

Use buttermilk in place of regular milk



Cheese Biscuits

Add 360g (12 oz) grated cheddar cheese

to dry ingredients