Buttermilk Biscuits

After I made my most recent batch of corn fritters, I was left with the age-old problem: What to do with the leftover buttermilk? Besides using the buttermilk to make pancakes or red velvet cupcakes (neither of which I felt like making), I just didn’t know what to do with it. Then the solution landed on me like a ton of bricks: BISCUITS! Of course! Why hadn’t I thought of that before?

I love buttermilk biscuits. I think the infatuation started from the time I was in college when, every few months, my roommate and I would brave the New England cold to visit the Popeyes nearest our dorm. There we would sink our teeth into a wholesome meal of fried Louisiana chicken and biscuits. Oh how I loved those biscuits! You can imagine my delight when Popeyes finally found its way to Singapore a few months back.

So anyway, I did a quick search and found this recipe on the internet for Southern Buttermilk Biscuits. It looked easy enough and was well-reviewed, so I thought I’d give it a go. And as it turns out the biscuits were (a) extremely easy to make and (b) fabulous! Buttery (without actually containing too much butter), fluffy and delicious. Such a good recipe!

And the great thing about Buttermilk Biscuits is they work as a savoury food and as a pastry. You can eat them with fried chicken and gravy, or you can do with them whatever you do with scones (slather on cream and jam and such). I had my first two with jam at tea-time and it took some effort to convince myself not to reach for a third…

Perfect any which way!

Buttermilk Biscuits
(Taken from here with some minor adaptations)

Click here for printable recipe.

Ingredients (yields 10-12 biscuits):

• 2 cups plain flour, and some for dusting your work surface
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp baking powder (the original recipe says to use baking powder without aluminum but mine had aluminum and the biscuits turned out fine)
• 1 tsp salt
• 85g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, very cold
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 230°C (450°F).
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor.
3. Cut the butter into small pieces and rub into the flour using a fork and/or your fingertips, until the mixture resembles course meal. If using a food processor, just pulse a few times until this consistency is achieved. (Work quickly – the biscuits turn out best if you don’t overhandle the dough.)
4. Add the buttermilk and use a wooden spoon or silicon spatula to mix until just combined. (If the dough appears dry, add a bit more buttermilk.)
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface.
6. Gently pat the dough out until it is about 1/2-inch thick. (Do NOT roll with a rolling pin!)
7. Use a round cutter to cut out rounds. (I used a cutter with scalloped edges). (The recipe owner says you can gently knead the scraps together to make a few more biscuits but they won’t be as good as the first ones.)
8. Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet. If you like soft sides, put them touching each other. If you like crusty sides, put them about 1 inch apart (not that these will not rise as high as the biscuits put close together.)
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the biscuits are a beautiful light golden brown on the top and bottom.

*You can make these biscuits, cut them, put them on cookie sheets and freeze them for up to a month. When you want fresh biscuits, simply place them frozen on the cookie sheet and bake at 230°C (450°F) for about 20 minutes.