Eric came back home this weekend from his 10 day trip to Texas! Needless to say, I am happy to have him back. :) So, last night when I asked if he had any requests for breakfast (a developing trend in our household on Sunday mornings) he had an answer ready for me: biscuits and gravy. My reaction was something of a roller coaster of surprise, intimidation, and then determination.
You see, I had never made Eric biscuits or gravy, and I wasn't sure where his idea had originated from. Ah, the inner workings of the male mind. Something women for centuries have been trying, and failing, to understand. I love my husband dearly; he always keeps me on my culinary toes!
After the surprise wore off, intimidation set in. Biscuits? Milk gravy? Both of these things can quickly become disastrous. I envisioned biscuits as hard as rocks and gravy that never thickened, imagined Eric and I sitting down to eat my lovingly prepared breakfast, looking down and seeing a plate of what looked like slop and rocks. Yum.
But it's not like me to be intimidated for long. In fact, the whole intimidation stage probably took less than a minute, scary as it was. When I recovered, I began searching for a biscuit recipe amongst the thousands scattered across the internet. I love researching a recipe. In fact, it is often more than half of the fun! It most certainly brings out the nerd in me, hehe. Inevitably, I learn a lot of little tricks and tips that combine to make failing (almost!) impossible.
Oh, I was still plenty nervous. I anxiously crouched next to the oven, looking through the window to watch and encourage my biscuits, chanting, "Rise, my lovelies, rise!" while a bemused Eric looked on. I think he may be getting used to hearing me talk to my creations like they are alive. :) Ultimately, the research, effort, and wait was all worth it. I ended up with biscuits that were fluffy and tender on the inside, flaky and buttery on the outside. In short: utterly perfect. Trust me, you want to try this biscuit. Whether you make milk gravy to go with it, eat it plain with butter, or slather it with some jam, it'll knock your socks off.
Here are my tips for great biscuits:
1. Measure out your flour the right way. The last thing you want is a heavy biscuit, and having too much flour will do exactly that. Click here to see how I learned how!
2. When using whole wheat flour, subbing in some corn starch is critical. There's some science behind it, but all you really need to know is that it makes your biscuits light and fluffy!
3. It doesn't matter how you cut in your butter. Use a food processor, pastry cutter, fork, or your fingers. Just remember that the key to fluffy biscuits (and scones, for that matter) is cold fat. I used a fork and placed my cut flour in the freezer for about 5 minutes before adding the buttermilk.
4. Don't press your dough too thin. We all want those sky-scraper biscuits, and that is impossible to achieve when your dough starts out 1/2 inch thick. About 1 inch is the general consensus.
5. Use a sharp tool to cut your biscuits into their desired shape. Don't use a coffee cup or anything with dulled edges. A crimped edge will prevent your biscuits from rising!
6. On that note, don't twist your cutting tool. Cut straight down all the way through the first time.
7. After cutting, put them in the freezer for 15-30 minutes. This ensures that the fat is as cold as it can be before going into that hot oven. To make it as easy as possible and eliminate touching them (and therefore warming them up) you can go ahead and place them on your baking sheet if you have room for it in your freezer.
And that's it! You are now armed with all of the biscuit-making tips the internet has to offer. So, what are you waiting for? Gather your ingredients, and treat yourself (and some loved ones) to homemade biscuits. I promise you, you won't regret it!
Buttermilk Biscuits
makes 8 biscuits
adapted from Spork or Foon
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour (regular whole wheat would work, as well)
1/4 cup corn starch
4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt (this could probably be decreased to 1/2 tsp. with equally great results)
4 Tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup buttermilk, chilled*
approx. 1 Tbsp. butter, melted, for brushing
Directions:
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in the butter using whatever method you prefer. You want the result to look like crumbs. It doesn't have to be perfect; not all of your crumbles need to be the same size. The goal is to get little pockets of fat dispersed throughout your dough to make that tender crumb we're after.
- Once the desired texture is achieved, place the bowl in the freezer for about 5 minutes to re-chill the butter.
-Take the bowl out of the freezer and make a wheel in the center of the flour. Pour in the buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. It will be sticky. Do not over-mix! If you do, you risk a dense biscuit that will more resemble the rocks of my nightmares, and we don't want that.
-Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface. Dust the top with flour and gently fold the dough over on itself 5-6 times. This creates that layered flaky-ness that is so desired in biscuits. Press gently (with your fingers, so as to decrease the amount of warmth being transferred to the dough) so that the dough is about 1 inch thick.
- Cut out your biscuits. I used a sharp knife and cut my biscuits into squares so I didn't have to mess with scrap dough.
- Brush biscuits with melted butter and place them gently into the freezer for 15-30 minutes. Mine made it for 15 minutes because I couldn't wait any longer than that! If you have room, you can go ahead and place them on your baking sheet (so that they are just touching) before putting them into the freezer. If not, then put them on a plate, Silpat, or whatever else you want.
- While you're waiting, pre-heat your oven to 450°F.
- Once your oven is pre-heated, if you haven't already, place the biscuits onto your baking sheet or stone so that they are just touching. Bake them until your biscuits are tall and light gold on top, about 15-20 minutes. When they get out of the oven, brush them again with the melted butter.
Nutrition Facts: 1 serving = 1 biscuit
Calories: 181 Carbs: 25 grams Fat: 7 grams Protein: 5 grams
Enjoy!!
