Angel Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 packets dry active yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
• 3 tablespoons warm water
• 6 cups WhiteLily all-purpose flour (or 5 1/2 cups from another brand)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup cold butter (cut into cubes + 2 tb melted butter for tops)
• 1/2 cup cold shortening (cut into cubes)
• 2 cups buttermilk

Instructions

1. 1

   Pour the yeast into a small bowl. Measure out 3 tablespoons of slightly warm water, just over room temperature. (Hot water will kill the yeast and it will not bloom.) Pour the warm water over the yeast and allow 10 minutes for the yeast to bloom. When it's ready to use, it should look foamy.

2. 2

   Meanwhile, set out a large mixing bowl. Measure the flour into the bowl. *Make sure you measure the flour precisely, meaning you need stir the flour in the bag to fluff it up, spoon the flour into the measuring cups, then level each measuring cup before pouring in the bowl.

3. 3

   Add the granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Whisk well to evenly incorporate the ingredients into the flour mixture.

4. 4

   Chop the cold butter and cold shortening into chunks and place them in the flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter to cut the fat into the flour until the mixture is full of very small clumps.

5. 5

   Measure the buttermilk in a measuring pitcher, then add the bloomed yeast to the buttermilk and stir well to incorporate. Slowly mix the buttermilk into the flour mixture until the biscuit dough comes together in a large sticky clump.

6. 6

   Move the clump to a floured work surface. Gently flatten the dough into a 2-inch disk, then fold it over on top of itself and fold it over again. Flatten the dough one more time and gently fold it in half and fold it in quarters. Now press the dough out gently into a 2-inch thick disk. It's time to cut. *Be careful not to "knead" the dough. The more you handle the dough the tougher it will become. Therefore, you don't want to fold it too many times, four tops, and you don't want to gather and cut the biscuits out more than once. So cut the biscuits as tightly together as you can the first time.

7. 7

   Use a well floured 2-inch biscuit cutter to cut the biscuits out. Keep the biscuit cutter tight against the edge of the dough so that you can cut all the biscuits out in one round.

8. 8

   Grease a 12-inch cast-iron skillet. Arrange the biscuits in the skillet and place in a warm area of the kitchen. Cover the skillet loosely with plastic wrap and allow the biscuits to rise for 45-60 minutes.

9. 9

   Preheat the oven to 400°F. Once the biscuits have risen tall to the edge of the skillet, gently remove the plastic and brush the tops with melted butter. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. The biscuits are done with the very center biscuits are puffed as much as the edge biscuits. You can check by inserting a sharp knife in between two biscuits near the middle to see if the knife comes out clean.

10. 10

    Use a flat metal spatula to divide the biscuits and pull them out of the pan.