101- Buttermilk Biscuits

I think that a good biscuit recipe definitely falls under the 101 category. They are so easy and so versatile that you can pair them with many things. You can have them with sausage and gravy for breakfast, on the side of a nice bowl of soup for lunch, or with some chicken and veg for dinner. Obviously those aren't the only limits to buttermilk biscuits, those are just some ideas. November's Everyday Food did a little feature on these delicious delights so I decided to whip some up last week. Instead of using all the all purpose flour the recipe called for I substituted half of it with white whole wheat, just to make things a smidge healthier for us. With it being holiday season it seems like the perfect time to whip some of these babies up.

Buttermilk Wheat Biscuits
Recipe from Everyday Food; Makes 12


4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling and cutting
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into bits, plus 4 tablespoons melted
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees, in a food processor. In a food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt to combine. Add cold butter; pulse until mixture is the texture of coarse meal;, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Add buttermilk; pulse just until dough is moistened, 2 to 3 times.
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead just to combine (do not overwork). Roll with a floured rolling pin (or pat with hands) to a 3/4" thickness. Cut out rounds with a floured 2 1/2 : round biscuit cutter.
• Transfer to a baking sheet, 1 1/2" apart. (Re-roll and cut scraps only once.) Brush top and sides of rounds with melted butter. Bake until biscuits are puffed and golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

My notes: They also had some hints for biscuit variations and I decided to go with black pepper, so I added some black pepper into the dry mixture and some on top after brushing them with butter. They suggest 1 teaspoon in the dry mixture and 1/2 teaspoon atop them. I just cracked till I was happy, ha. And give the white whole wheat a shot, cause they tasted great and at least it's only half as bad for you. Also, I hate my food processor, so I didn't mess with it. I used my handy dandy pastry blender to cut in the butter and a fork to gently mix the buttermilk in.