Step 1

Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a baking pan with a silicone baking mat or a piece of parchment paper.

Step 2

In a large bowl, measure the flour by spooning it into a dry measuring cup and leveling it off.

Step 3

Next, cut the butter into the flour. Do this by using a pastry blender to cut the butter into pieces the size of a small pea. Or freeze the butter and grate it on a box grater then stir the flour and grated butter together.

Step 4

Add the buttermilk and stir until just combined. The dough should be like thick mashed potatoes, but not too sticky. Add a little more flour if too sticky, or a little more buttermilk if it won't hold together.

Step 5

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it a few times if it's not holding together too well. Flatten the dough out into a rectangle and fold it over on itself in a tri-fold fashion. This helps to create those flaky layers. Continue lightly dusting the dough and the counter with flour to keep things from sticking. Then flatten it out into a rectangle again and tri-fold once more. You'll want to do this about 3 times.

Step 6

Finally, flatten the dough out into a rectangle that's about 3/4 to 1-inch thick and use a floured, sharp 2 to 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter to cut the dough out using a quick up and down motion - being sure not to twist the cutter. Transfer the biscuits to the prepared baking pan, placing them nearly touching for soft, tender edges or farther apart for crunchier edges.

Step 7

Rework the dough and flatten it out to cut more biscuits out. You should get between 10 and 12 biscuits. Brush the tops with the melted butter and bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.