Let's make some dough!

Count the leaveners in almost any "sourdough" biscuit recipe.

You'll find baking powder. Then there's the "sourdough." You might even find a packet of yeast from the store.

The truth is, the baking powder does most of the rising. Sourdough takes half a day to several days to raise a dough. In a biscuit, it isn't helping.

That's sleight of hand. The baking powder does the lifting. The sourdough gets the credit.

Look even closer at that "sourdough." Sometimes it isn't sourdough at all. It's a poolish, or sponge: flour, water, sugar and packaged yeast, set on the counter the night before. That's yeast, not sourdough.

Some bakeries do the same thing with loaves: commercial yeast, a souring agent, and a sourdough label.

Real sourdough is a wild culture. It's yeast and bacteria that live in your dough. It's all natural. Nothing comes from a packet, and it's a process with significant health benefits. (See also: Health.)

So what are those biscuits really? They're regular biscuits. The sourdough is there to sound fancy.

There's a reason biscuit makers have reached for buttermilk for generations. (See also: Are Your Sourdough Pancakes Really Sourdough?)

The natural lactic acid in buttermilk works perfectly with baking soda. Baking soda reacts with that tang and lifts the dough. Cold butter makes the flaky layers. There's no crock, no packet of yeast, and no unnecessary ingredients.

Want it simple? Do what I do. Make a large batch and freeze it. Any time you want biscuits, you're three steps from fresh, homemade buttermilk biscuits: heat the oven, pop them in, and take them out when they're baked.

Don't like buttermilk? You won't taste it as buttermilk. You'll taste a tender biscuit with a little tang.

Want something sweeter? (See also: Sourdough Scones: Window Dressing.)

Breaducation Buttermilk Biscuits

Makes about 8 biscuits, 2½ inches across.

Ingredients

• 240 g all-purpose flour

• 12 g baking powder

• 3 g baking soda

• 6 g salt

• 85 g cold (or frozen) butter, grated

• 180–240 g cold buttermilk

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 450°F.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Toss in the grated butter until every shred is coated with flour.

4. Stir in 180 g buttermilk. Add more, a spoonful at a time, until the dough just holds together.

5. Turn it out on a floured counter. Pat it to about ½ inch thick.

6. Cut it in half. Stack the halves and cut again, then again. Cutting and stacking creates the layers.

7. Pat it to ¾ inch thick. Cut straight down with a 2½-inch biscuit cutter.

8. Set the biscuits touching each other in a pan with sides, so they rise up, not out.

9. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until golden.

Sources: popular "sourdough" biscuit recipes reviewed

• Kent Rollins – Sourdough Biscuits

• Food Network – Sourdough Biscuits (Jean Cates)

• King Arthur – Buttery Sourdough Biscuits

• MasterClass – Sourdough Biscuits

• Zero-Waste Chef – 5-Ingredient Sourdough Biscuits

Until next time, let's give thanks for our daily bread…