Homemade biscuits are just about the best kind of comfort food. You can eat them with just a bit of butter and jam, with maple syrup, or smothered in thick country gravy. They are great for any meal and only require a few ingredients. And, if you don’t have buttermilk, I do have an alternative for you.
Buttermilk Biscuits
makes 8-10
8 tbl (1 stick) Cold Butter
2 1/2 cu Self-Rising Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/4 cu Buttermilk*
Additional Flour, for rolling
1 tbl Butter, melted to brush on top of biscuits after baking
Method
Dice butter into tiny bits (or use a cheese grater to shred), put them in the freezer for 15 minutes. In a medium sized bowl, mix together self rising flour, baking powder and baking soda. Put the flour mixture in freezer. Measure buttermilk and put it in freezer as well.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
After all the ingredients have been in the freezer for 15 minutes, quickly mix butter into flour with two forks until well distributed (or use a pasty cutter). Pour in buttermilk and quickly mix ingredients together. Put about 1/2 cup of flour on a work surface and pour mixture on top.
Work dough till it comes together, then roll it out and tri-fold it like a piece of paper going into an envelope. Roll it out again and repeat that process 3 times. Finally roll it out to about a 12” by 5” rectangle. Put more flour in a small bowl. Use a 3” pastry cutter and dip it in the flour each time before cutting a biscuit. Cut straight down (don’t twist). Place biscuits on a baking sheet touching each other. Reshape extra dough for last few biscuits.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until they just start to brown on top. Remove from oven and brush the 1 tablespoons of melted butter on top. Serve warm or room temperature.
*if you don’t have buttermilk, pour 1 tablespoon of vinegar into a measuring cup. Pour regular milk on top to reach the 1 1/4 cup level. Let stand for 15 minutes before continuing with the recipe.