biscuits Archives | butter loves company

rosemary honey buttermilk biscuits

January 5, 2016 by Butter Loves Company

These rosemary honey buttermilk biscuits are what dreams are made of. From their soft, buttery layered centers and lightly crisp edges to earthy rosemary and sweet honey flavors, these biscuits are the real deal.

Four and a half years ago, I bit into the best biscuit of my life. It was a Monday night, right after Greg and I began dating and we were perched at the bar of one of our favorite Boston restaurants, Island Creek Oyster Bar. We had made it a little tradition to go there for oysters and doughnuts. An odd pairing, yes, but doesn’t a meal that consists of the freshest, most cleanly shucked, perfectly chilled oysters on the planet and piping hot, homemade, seasonal doughnuts sound heavenly? We think so. How could it get better?

Enter: The biscuits. A tip from a fellow diner led us there and, after one bite of the rosemary, honey coated buttermilk beauty, we were in dreamland. With crisp edges that balance the soft, buttery layers within, this is a biscuit you will definitely fall in love with.

Many thanks to Saveur Magazine for sharing our love of “The Biscuit” and getting the Island Creek team to reveal the recipe. I could have sworn there was rosemary inside the biscuits as well as on top, so I adjusted the recipe to meet my memory. The real key here is shredding frozen butter into the dough with a box grater. It will give the biscuits their many layers. Get ready to fall in love.

feta scallion buttermilk biscuits

July 28, 2015 by Butter Loves Company

Buttermilk biscuits get a savory punch in this easy recipe full of feta cheese and scallions. It’s kind of like a Greek take on the southern classic. You get the saltiness from the feta, the delicate onion flavor from the scallions, tang from the buttermilk and, flakiness from the really, really, really cold butter. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, sour cream or Greek yogurt thinned out with a little bit of milk or cream will also work. You could make a killer breakfast sandwich on one of these biscuits or split one in half and griddle each side with butter and then serve warm with even more feta and scallions on top. Mmm, sounds so good.

This is a ONE BOWL biscuit recipe and you don’t even need a stand mixer or food processor, making it especially perfect when you don’t want to dirty too many dishes. We will, however, dirty our hands!

First things first, dice your butter and return it to the fridge to stay cold while you get things started. Because we’re using our hands to mix the dough, it is extra important to have all of your ingredients at the ready before you start. When you’re hands are covered in sticky dough and it comes time to add the feta, you’ll be happy it is by your side and not in the fridge. If you ever feel like the dough is sticking to your hands too much during mixing try rubbing them together as if you were trying to start a fire and the dough should roll right off!

If you like these, you should definitely also check out these blueberry buttermilk scones with homemade cinnamon sugar butter. They are my favorite and the butter is to die for!

feta scallion buttermilk biscuits
Adapted from Joy the Baker

prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 15–18 minutes
total time: about 45 minutes

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper, plus additional for sprinkling on top before baking
3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 large egg
1 cup cold buttermilk, well-shaken
1/2 cup scallions, white and light green parts, thinly sliced (I recommend a very generous 1/2 cup)
1 1/2 cups feta cheese (Or bleu cheese if you’re feeling stinky!)
1 large egg, beaten, for egg wash

Instructions:

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add in the cold butter cubes (using your fingers or a pastry cutter) and work it into the dry ingredients until the butter flakes are the size of peas.
Create a well in the center of the flour/butter mixture and add the cold buttermilk and egg into the well (a-la mashed potato and gravy volcano). Stir until the egg and buttermilk are just evenly distributed in the flour mixture. Add the scallions and feta cheese. Stir to combine until the biscuit dough starts clumping together into a ball. Be careful not to over mix.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and pat into a 3/4-inch thick circle (if the dough seems too wet, add a touch more flour). Using a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter (or the top of a round drinking glass), cut biscuits out of the dough. Press any dough scraps together to make a few more biscuits out of the remaining dough.
Place the dough circles 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet and brush lightly with egg wash. Sprinkle with fresh cracked black pepper. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve warm. Biscuits are best the day they’re made, but can be frozen and rewarmed in the oven on low heat.

apple pie buttermilk biscuits

September 17, 2014 by Butter Loves Company

If you’ve ever found yourself craving apple pie for breakfast, these biscuits are for you. These fluffy treats are portable, completely 8am acceptable versions of apple pie with a sweet cinnamon apple filling folded into two fluffy, buttery buttermilk biscuit layers. Shopping for and making this recipe is extremely easy as it requires just one apple, one spice and no electric mixer of any sort. Let’s consider this our simple stepping stone into the various apple-ly pies and treats we make in the coming months. Prepare to have a super awesome smelling kitchen!

I made these last Sunday as part two of the Joy the Baker and King Arthur Flour Baking Boot Camp series. The concept of the series is simple: four recipe challenges using four different King Arthur Flours + photos + Instagram #bakingbootcamp = a chance to win awesome baking prizes. If you’re interested in participating you can find out more details on Joy’s blog. Also, if you have an Instagram account, I would love to see your results. I’m @butterlc. Let’s be web buds!

This challenge featured self-rising flour, which I learned is made using soft wheat flour rather than the hard wheat flour that goes into all-purpose flour. This causes it to have a lower protein content (8.5%) than all-purpose flour (11.7%) which aids in making the flour light, and resulting tender and fluffy biscuits. Apparently, this type of flour also already contains non-aluminum baking powder and a dash of salt. Whoop, whoop! Cheers to learning! Love this stuff.

I don’t know about you but I had five types of flour on hand, but self-rising was not one of them. Luckily, you can make your own using this easy formula: 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder + 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk this mixture together until thoroughly combined. You will need a double batch of this for the recipe below.

Aside from having these on a casual Sunday, I can picture serving them with brunch on a crisp fall day, or even into the Thanksgiving holiday season.

*Truthfully, if you find yourself craving apple pie for breakfast, please also feel free to eat the stinkin’ pie. I know I have. That’s the beauty of being an “adult.”

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buttermilk lava!

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your dough will start coming together.

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roll out the dough

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add your sweet apple filling

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cut and place on a cookie sheet pan

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sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar, because that can only make things better

biscuits.

I love how the apple peeks out!

apple pie buttermilk biscuits
Joy the Baker

prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 12–14 minutes
total time: 30–40 minutes
makes 12 biscuits

Ingredients:

For the Apples:
1 Fuji or other baking apple of choice, peeled, cored and sliced very thin
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar (I was generous with this)
For the Biscuits:
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Self-Rising Flour, or your own self-rising flour mixture (directions above)
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2/3 to 3/4 cup cold buttermilk
For the Topping:
1 large egg, beaten
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

Instructions:

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Prepare the apples: Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the apples, cinnamon and brown sugar. Toss the apples until the sugar is melted and the mixture on the apples is warm and glossy. The apples will be coated but won’t be cooked through. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Prepare the biscuit dough: Place flour in a medium bowl. I used a baking dish with a nice flat bottom and wide top so I could get my hands in easily. Add the cold butter cubes and use your fingers to quickly break the butter down into the flour until some of the butter bits are oat-sized and others pea-sized. Stir in the granulated sugar.
Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in 2/3 cup buttermilk. Stir the mixture together until it is well moistened and holds together if you gently gather it together into a ball. Add the remaining buttermilk as needed. If you’re using your own homemade self-rising flour, you’ll want to add the full 3/4 cup of buttermilk.
Lightly dust a work surface with all-purpose flour. Gently gather the dough into a ball and transfer it to the floured surface. Pat it into a small rectangle.
Assemble: Use a rolling pin to gently roll the dough into a rectangle 1/2-inch thick, about 7-inches x 10-inches. Arrange the cooled apples in a single layer over one half of the rolled-out biscuit dough. Fold the empty side of the dough over the apples and gently seal in the apples by pressing the edges of the dough together. You can use your hands to pat the dough into a 6-inch x 8-inch rectangle and smooth the edges.
Use a sharp knife to slice the dough into 12 squares. Use a spatula to place each biscuit onto the prepared baking sheet, about 2-inches apart.
In a small bowl, whisk together sugar for topping, cinnamon and salt.
Brush each biscuit top with beaten egg and sprinkle generously with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the biscuits are risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve warm, or cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Biscuits are best enjoyed within two days of baking.