Buttermilk Biscuits

Let’s take a look at that 30x30 list.  Yep, there are some challenging recipes on there…bagels, French onion soup, English muffins…

But do you want to know which one was the most challenging?  Yep, the biscuits.

I’m a Bisquick girl.  I grew up with Bisquick drop biscuits and I still love them.  They’re salty and light and easy and yummy.  And there are approximately 50 bajillion biscuit recipes out there (some easier than others).  Some recipes involve spreading butter and folding and refolding.  Others swear that specific brands of flour are responsible biscuit success.  And absolutely all of them claim to be “the best”.

Want to see my first attempt at “the best” biscuits?

Yep, flat little hockey pucks.  They tasted good, but I just couldn’t get over how dense and flat they were.

So for my next attempt, I went back to drop biscuits.  I was hoping that my inexperience with rolled biscuits was part of the reason for the flat biscuits.  The drop biscuits turned out a lot better!

My absolute favorite part of the recipe was the suggestion to grate the butter before incorporating it into the flour mixture.  I want to find the genius that thought of that and shake his or her hand.  Have you ever tried cutting butter into flour?  It’s hard!  But having grated butter makes the processes so incredibly easy!

The whole family loved these biscuits!  I may even have to start making these instead of the Bisquick kind!

Recipe Notes

*Grated butter is just what it sounds like!  To grate the butter, simply place a stick of butter in the freezer while you gather the rest of the ingredients.  After the dry stuff is mixed, grab your cheese grater and go to town!  This saves a lot of the trouble of cutting the butter into the dry ingredients.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Adapted from My Beautiful Disasters

3 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, slightly frozen & grated (see note)

1 1/3 cups lowfat buttermilk

3 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Grab the frozen butter and grate it directly into the bowl.  Cut the butter into the dry ingredients and mix to a small crumb using your hands, a pastry cutter, or two forks.

Slowly add in the buttermilk and stir until well combined.  Use your hands to knead in the last bit of flour.  Use two spoons to drop generous portions (3-4 tablespoons) of dough onto baking sheets.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.  Open the oven door to brush the top of each biscuit generously with melted butter.  Bake for an additional 5 minutes or until browned and serve.

Made 12-16 biscuits, depending on size