Biscuits I - from Professional Baking 4th edition

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1

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

[b][i]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 90g (3 oz) grated cheddar cheese
to dry ingredients[/i][/b]