Life is just full of surprises, and if we pay attention every day, we can see some really great things. For instance, check out these beautiful crocus that were blooming in my flower garden this morning.
Now for those of you in warmer climates, this might not be anything unusual, but I assure you, this is HIGHLY out-of-the ordinary where we live. The blizzard we had five days ago melted in the 60 degree heat and left behind these little bits of sunshine. Spring is coming!
A Saturday morning favorite in our house is biscuits. I have tried so many different recipes for biscuits that I have lost track. Tall, flaky, buttery biscuits with homemade strawberry jam are amazing! Too often, though, I have exposed my family to little tough hockey-puck biscuits. The ones in the can were better! *Sigh*
My quest to find the perfect biscuit, though, has ended thanks to a nice surprise from King Arthur Flour. With a few simple modifications, I took their Strawberry Shortcake recipe and made a biscuit that has those beautiful layers. You know the ones I’m talking about…you can literally separate the biscuit into little pieces of biscuit joy. Breakfast (or anytime) Buttermilk Biscuits were born!
Breakfast (or anytime) Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe…
Here’s what you will need for this recipe:
3 ½ c. all purpose flour
1 t. salt
1 T. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
¼ c. sugar
½ c. butter (1 stick)–cold
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
To make the biscuits, you will want to get out the following kitchen equipment: a large mixing bowl, 2 c. liquid measuring cup, whisk, wooden spoon, rubber spatula, measuring cups/spoons, pastry blender (or 2 knives, though the pastry blender is much easier), a cookie sheet, and biscuit cutter.
Alright, let’s make dough! First, preheat your oven to 425° F. If you don’t have a nice, hot, oven, these little guys will not want to rise and make lovely layers.
Next, mix together your dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. I use a whisk for this task. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using the pastry blender. You will make little rocking motions. The goal is to get the butter into tiny little pieces evenly distributed throughout the dough.
After the butter is evenly incorporated, mix the buttermilk and egg together in your liquid measuring cup. Dump all the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix together with your wooden spoon until no dry ingredients can be seen.
At this point, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. It will be a little messy, but after a few turns kneading, the dough should stick together nicely. Don’t over knead! I would say 6 or 7 times should do it. Pat the dough out (I like to do this into a circle) until it is about 3/4 of an inch thick. Using your biscuit cutter, cut out the biscuits and place them on the ungreased cookie sheet. It is perfectly ok to smoosh the dough back together and re-pat it out until all the dough is used. Just know, that the more you work the dough, the more tough it becomes.
Bake the biscuits for 10-12 minutes, until they are golden brown and beautiful. Depending on the size of your biscuit cutter, you should get about 10 or so biscuits. It is best to wait a few minutes before devouring these, but I completely understand if that is hard for you!
Give me some homemade jam and a pat of butter and this simple breakfast makes me very happy! And because it makes 10 or so biscuits, that means leftovers for the rest of the week! Yay! (Well, that is if you can hold yourself to only eating one!)
If jam is not something that you enjoy, you could try a more savory approach. Fry an egg to whatever doneness makes you happy, fold it gently on a sliced biscuit and you have a biscuit and egg sandwich that fast food restaurants only dream about. It is fast, easy, and much better for you because it contains real ingredients.
Look at that egg-yolk goodness! I can’t decide which I liked better, the jam or the egg. I do know that Breakfast (or anytime) Biscuits are one of my favorite ways to enjoy both!
Breakfast (or anytime) Buttermilk Biscuits
Notes
Do not over-knead dough. Biscuits will be tough and flat.
Ingredients
- 3 ½ c. all purpose flour
- 1 t. salt
- 1 T. baking powder
- ½ t. baking soda
- ¼ c. sugar
- ½ c. butter (1 stick), cold
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Also get out a large cookie sheet.
- Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar.
- Using a pastry blender (or two knives) cut the butter into the dry ingredients.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and the milk, adding to the dry ingredients. Stir until the liquid is absorbed.
- On a lightly floured surface, turn out the biscuit dough and knead 5-6 times until it comes together.
- Pat the dough into a circle until it is about ¾ inches thick. Using a biscuit cutter (or glass), cut dough into circles. Be sure to push cutter straight down to ensure high-rising biscuits with nice layers!
- Place the biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Life is full of wonderful surprises, but is up to us to look for these each and every day. Many of us go through our daily routines refusing to deviate from our “norm.” I am more guilty of this than anyone! As a creature of habit, I like routine. But the problem with routine is that I don’t venture far from my comfort zone. I like to park at the same spot at work, I do the exact same things every morning before I walk out the door, I even really like “Taco Tuesday” at our house because I know what we are having for supper! 🙂 It’s good that God gives us little surprises, like my crocus, when we need them to help keep life interesting. Otherwise, my life would be very boring indeed! Have a great day and thanks for reading!