Biscuit case

I have created a monster (or two). Ever since my most recent (and most successful) biscuit attempt, Dani has been drooling in anticipation of the next batch. The other night I felt compelled to bake, but had no hunger for baked goods. As a result, I allowed Dani to make the executive decision of what to make. Without an extra thought, she exclaimed, "biscuits!" Sophie, who was also present, quickly seconded this suggestion. It was decided. The only problem was this blog. There is no fun in re-baking something I already know is great, like the biscuits from the Bread Bible because the story and recipe will not be new and exciting. So we turned to my old go-to site, foodnetwork.com. Alton Brown had a decent looking recipe, so we decided to give it a try. We altered it slightly, leaving out the shortening in exchange for extra butter.

Biscuits 2

adapted from recipe by Alton Brown

* 2 cups flour

* 4 tsp baking powder

* 1/4 tsp baking soda

* 3/4 tsp salt

* 4 tbsp butter

* 1 cup buttermilk (upon discovering some heavy cream in the refrigerator, I attempted to replace some of the buttermilk with cream. Disappointment ensued, though, when the cream was slightly solidified and clearly past its prime. Buttermilk had to suffice).

Preheat oven to 450˚ F. Mix the flour, b.p., b.s., and salt in a bowl. Crumble in the butter (pastry cutter or fingertips will work) until mixture resembles crumbs. Pour in the buttermilk and mix until just combined. Place the dough on a floured surface. Sprinkle top with flour and fold the dough over 5-6 times.

Here we again diverged from the recipe. Rather than rolling out the dough and punching out circles with a cookie cutter, we pinched off pieces of dough and dropped them into a (lightly greased) round cake pan. I was a big fan of how this baking vessel worked with the previous round of biscuits, ensuring they bake upwards rather than puffing out too far.

Bake 15-20 minutes (we did 15. Tasting them the next morning, I concluded that a few more minutes would not have hurt). Eat with butter, jam, lemon curd, peanut butter, nothing.