Pursuit of: Buttermilk Recipes [Better Buttermilk Biscuits]

Boyfriend and I's "American" breakfast for the 4th of July consisted of buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy, which, you should all know by now, is Boyfriend's absolute favorite breakfast. 

The breakfast of true southern gentlemen.

Through the power of sausage gravy and biscuits, anything is possible: men will thank you as they never have before, they will shave they're stubbly chin because they know how much you appreciate a smooth face, and they will...watch as you clean up the kitchen and then realize JUST at the last moment that they should offer to help. It's quite remarkable, actually.

I was, however, able to convince Boyfriend to take a few pictures of the biscuit making process last weekend as a premature act of gratitude for this meal. I couldn't very well take pictures myself, considering the dirty state of my hands, now could I?

I've posted a biscuit recipe on Pursuit of Sweetness before, but I believe I have found a better one that, amongst a few other differences, includes buttermilk! This one has gooey-er dough, but results in much softer biscuits. Also, there are only THREE ingredients: self-rising flour, butter, and buttermilk. I made and froze the biscuit dough for the biscuits pictured above. Although convenient, I think I still prefer them freshly made and baked on the same day. For some reason, the bottoms ended up tougher when I baked them from the freezer AND they didn't brown as well...thoughts, anyone?

Here are a few tips I've gathered over the few times (read: 4) I've made biscuits. It seems that every true southern baker has their secrets. While these aren't exactly "secrets", they are still pretty darn helpful! 

• Keep your ingredients and dough cold. You can do this by placing the dough in the freezer for 5-10 minutes after you cut the butter into it, and keeping the buttermilk in the fridge until its time for you to add it.

• Use your standing mixer to cut in the butter, if you have one. If not, use frozen butter and a cheese grater. If you've been looking for a way to build some killer arm muscles, by all means: use a pastry cutter. However, if you're lazy or slightly OCD use a mixer or grater; its easier and keeps the butter pieces more uniform.

• Do not over-mix or -knead the dough. Over-doing the dough will make the biscuits rise less and make for a less-tender biscuit. I'm still trying to find a happy balance...

• If you want tall biscuits, keep the dough thick. The first few times I made biscuits I just assumed that the more the merrier and that they would all rise to great heights. Wrong :( Keep the dough thick, and you will get higher biscuits; they'll only grow a few millimeters...maybe centimeters...hmm I've never been good at guestimating. 

• If you want to avoid having to gather extra dough and kneading out more "less tender" biscuits, make them square! Then you can save the corner biscuits for yourself and feel less guilty when your biscuits are smaller than his :)

• Share them with someone you love! Biscuits are a labor of love and are best enjoyed fresh out of the oven, in the morning light with someone who truly appreciates you :)

One more buttermilk recipe to go!

Happy eating <3 

Buttermilk Biscuits

Recipe Taken from Christy Jordan's Southern Plate

Servings: ~12 biscuits

2 1/4 cup sself-rising flour

1/2 cup cold salted butter

1 1/4 cups reduced fat buttermilk

Extra flour, for dusting

2 tablespoons melted butter, for brushing (optional)

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper. Cut the butter into the flour, using one of the suggested methods mentioned above until butter is in pieces no larger than a pea. Return to freezer for 5 minutes; as you wait, prepare a lightly-floured surface for kneading.

• Remove from freezer and add buttermilk, taking care to mix with a wooden spoon until just incorporated. Dump dough onto the floured surface; sprinkle flour over top of dough and press out into a square. Fold the dough over itself a few times (~3-4), lightly flouring the top of the dough before each fold. 

• Shape dough into a square or rectangle and cut biscuits either using a biscuit cutter, glass, knife, or pizza cutter. Place cut-outs on pan and bake for 13-15 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter.