Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add butter and pulse about six times until butter is well incorporated and the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You may also use a pastry blender for this step.
Pour flour mixture into a large mixing bowl and add buttermilk. Mix together with a fork or a firm spatula just until mixture comes together. The dough will appear very dry.
1 cup buttermilk
Dump onto counter top and begin to bring dough together with your hands. Form dough into a rough rectangle so dough is about ¾ inch thick.
Use a bench scraper to lift one side of the dough and fold the dough over a third of the way (like you are folding a letter). Fold the other side over the top of the first fold. This is the first fold. You'll be repeating this step three additional times for a total of four folds. Rotate dough 90 degrees or a quarter of a turn.
Pat or roll dough out again into a rectangle that is about ¾ of an inch thick. Fold dough into thirds again like you're folding a letter. This is the second fold. Rotate and repeat two more times until you have created four total folds and turns. (Step by step photos are available in the post above this recipe card.)
Pat out one additional time and use a biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits. Use scraps to reform dough and cut any additional biscuits with the remaining dough. You should be able to get 7-8 bisuits depening on the size of your cutter and the thickness of your dough.
Place biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet with the sides of the biscuits touching each other
Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter and bake in preheated 425°F oven for 18-20 minutes until biscuits are golden and baked through.
2 tablespoons melted butter
Place baked biscuits on a baking rack. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Notes
Use cold ingredients - this will help create a flakier texture in your biscuits.
Handle the dough as little as possible - overworking the dough can lead to tough, dense biscuits.
Cut the butter into small pieces before adding it to the flour mixture - this will help distribute it evenly and create layers in the dough.
Fold the dough - into an "envelope fold" four different times
Use a sharp biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits - a dull cutter can compress the dough and prevent it from rising properly.
Don't twist the cutter when pressing down into the dough - cut straight down. This will help keep your biscuits tall.
Place the biscuits close together on the baking sheet - this will help them rise up, rather than out, creating a taller biscuit.
Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter before baking - this will help them brown and give them a delicious, buttery flavor.