American
Hotel Effie’s Southern Biscuits
- Prep time 10 minutes
- Cook time 20 minutes
- makes 14 two inch biscuits
Author Notes
Effie Burns is not a name you likely know, but one that is near and dear to the team at Hotel Effie, the newest luxury hotel at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, located along the Emerald Coast in the Florida panhandle. Hotel Effie and Chef Hugh Acheson, a James Beard award-winning chef who has also appeared on hit shows like Bravo’s Top Chef, is paying homage to this sweet Southern Grandma, as she is the hotel owner’s Grandmother, and her essence is what the hotel was built on.
Effie’s Southern Biscuits, an infamous buttery and flakey dish of warm savory biscuit goodness available at the hotel’s signature restaurant, Ovide and the hotel’s Sweetbay Coffee market. Working closely with the hotel team to preserve grandma Effie’s original Southern Biscuit recipe, these warm pastries were perfectly created by Chef Acheson
As the ultimate hostess, Grandma Effie welcomed each and every guest with open arms, as family. Her gift was to make you feel like you were the only person in the room, all with genuine Southern hospitality as refreshing as a glass of sweet tea, biscuits and a cool breeze on a rocking chair porch. Just like the namesake, Hotel Effie is full of charm, elegance, gracious personality and delicious biscuits.
For more information on Grandma Effie Burns' Biscuit Recipe, go to https://www.hoteleffie.com/blog/effie-burns-signature-biscuit-recipe?gclid=Cj0KCQjwz96WBhC8ARIsAATR251OpXcgQCqDPPtGgx2DMyCOtHM3Vp37lQ7w0D2_Vq5nKKHkGrGG_VoaAuGKEALw_wcB —HotelEffie
Ingredients
-
1 cup
all-purpose flour
-
1 cup
cake flour
-
1 teaspoon
baking powder
-
1 teaspoon
baking soda
-
1 tablespoon
kosher salt
-
1 tablespoon
granulated sugar
-
4 ounces
cold, unsalted butter diced
-
2 tablespoons
melted butter
-
1 cup
cultured buttermilk, cold
Directions
- Preheat oven 400F.
- Mix and sift dry ingredients. Place in the fridge for 1 hour to chill. Using a fork or your fingers, press the cold butter cubes into the cold flour mixture. Make sure the butter is not melting or getting really soft. The key to a fluffy biscuit is keeping the butter as cold as possible in this step. Continue mixing until all butter is about pea-sized globs. If you think the mixture is too warm, just return it to the fridge and let it cool down again. The prepared mixture can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2-3 weeks.
- Next, fold in the cold buttermilk, a third at a time, stir with spatula until the flour is incorporated. The dough will look and feel crumbly and dry at first but keep mixing until it comes together. Once the dough forms a rough ball, that’s not too sticky, turn out onto a lightly floured surface. A little sticky is what you are looking for.
- With your hands, gently mold the dough into a square like shape about 1/2-inch-thick, then fold in half. Mold it back into a square like shape. Repeat this process 3 times, 3 folds. Make sure you are using only enough flour to keep your hands from sticking to the dough. Next with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough to a thickness of 3/4 inch, dust away any excess flour. Using 1 3/4-inch rounds arranged in a 10” cast iron skillet. Gather scraps into a ball, roll and fold a single time, then cut as many more biscuits as you can.
- Brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter and bake on a middle-placed rack until the biscuits are well-risen and golden brown, around 20 minutes. Let the biscuits cool for about 10 minutes.
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