President Coolidge's Cream Of Tartar Biscuits

Step 1: A medium bowl

Step 2: Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.

Step 3: Sprinkle the butter pieces over the dry ingredients and use your fingers to blend it

Step 4: Keep going until you have a shaggy mixture with pea-sized bits and little flakes of butter.

Step 5: Add the milk all at once and stir with a with fork until it’s almost fully combined, then turn the dough out onto a floured surface.

Step 6: Using your hands (never a rolling pin), gently press the dough out into a rough 1-inch-thick rectangle, then fold in half lengthwise

Step 7: Turn it 90 degrees, and gently press it out again. Repeat this process five more times

Step 8: Lightly sprinkling the dough with more flour as needed to keep it from sticking.

Step 9: On the final turn, press the dough out to a 1-inch-thick rectangle and use a pastry cutter or ruler to make the edges as straight as possible.

Step 10: Use a sharp knife to cut the biscuits into 10 equal pieces, depending on what size you want your biscuits to be.

Step 11: Transfer them to the prepared baking sheet, placing them close together but not quite touching, so that they support each other as they rise.

Step 12: Brush the tops with the melted butter, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill while you heat your oven to 450º.

Step 13: When the oven is hot

Step 14: Transfer the biscuits to the oven and cook until golden brown and puffed, 9 to 12 minutes.

Step 15: Let cool slightly