Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe From Breakfast And Lunch At Egg Restaurant In Williamsburg, Brooklyn

It seems as though every restaurant now serves some variety of Southern-style biscuits, but we saw the first signs of New York's biscuit revival at Williamsburg breakfast phenom Egg, back when the restaurant opened in 2005.

Now chef-owner George Weld has expanded Egg's hours to lunch (every day) and dinner (Wednesday through Sunday), so we can enjoy his flaky buttery gravy-soppers just about any time we please. And thanks to Weld sharing his recipe with us, we can make them at home, too.

To create his recipe, Weld–a South Carolina native–conjured up memories of his grandmother's biscuits and made batch after batch until he'd replicated them. The trick, he says, is to use bleached flour (for extra-fluffy texture) and very cold butter, then work quickly and mix with a light hand. And don't forget Weld's favorite biscuit topping: molasses.

Egg, 135 N. 5th St (between Berry St. and Bedford Ave.), Brooklyn; 718-302-5151 or pigandegg.com

Buttermilk Biscuits

Adapted from George Weld, Egg

Makes 8 to 10 biscuits

1 pound and 10 ounces bleached all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons baking powder

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

6 ounces cold unsalted butter

2½ cups buttermilk or sour milk*, plus more for brushing

1. Preheat oven to 500°. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

2. Cut half of the butter into thin sheets and place them in the freezer.

3. Blend the remaining butter into the flour mixture with your hands. Work quickly, blending until the flour resembles very coarse meal with a few pea-size lumps. With a rubber spatula, mix the buttermilk or sour milk into the flour and butter just until a dough begins to form.

4. Dump dough onto a floured work surface and pat it into a rough rectangle about ¼ inch thick. Lay the slices of frozen butter on top, then fold the dough over twice (as if you were folding a letter in thirds). Press down gently on the dough until it's about ¾ inch thick. Use a 2½-inch biscuit cutter to punch out biscuits (do not twist the cutter). Place biscuits onto a greased baking sheet and brush the tops with milk.

5. Bake the biscuits for 13 to 18 minutes, until risen, golden and light. If they feel wet or heavy, bake them longer.

* To make sour milk, combine 2½ cups of whole milk with 2½ tablespoons of white vinegar.