Every respectable Maritimer should be able to throw together a batch of buttermilk biscuits, AKA your first step to joining an auxiliary group in your golden years. This recipe yields roughly 15-17 biscuits, depending on the size of your cutter. It is also very adaptable to quadrupling as needed for larger gatherings.
Ingredients
- 632 grams all purpose flour
- 50 grams granulated sugar
- 57 grams baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 227 grams butter (chilled)
- 500 ml buttermilk
Instructions
Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Cut in your chilled butter until the mix has chunks of butter slightly larger than a pea. **Expert mode – if you were shooting to impress the biscuit connoisseur in your life, put butter in the freezer for 15 minutes, remove and grate into the flour mix with a cheese grater. Put that mix in the freezer for 20 minutes.**
As for the buttermilk, if you want to make that yourself, add white vinegar to your milk. (keep the total amount of liquid added to the recipe 500 ml) Pour in as much vinegar as your heart tells you and allow it to sit for a few minutes before using. Pour buttermilk into dry ingredients and fold until flour is almost incorporated. Flour your table generously and pour out biscuit mix onto your table, fold until dough is just combined. Do not, under any circumstances, work the dough more than absolutely necessary. Roll out your dough to the height of your floured biscuit cutter and cut away! Brush with milk on top and bake on trays at 325° for 20-25 minutes.
My trip to Lunenburg Farmers’ Market this past week resulted in picking up a beautiful Haskap Berry Classic Jam from Lahave River Berry Farm, located at 5216 Hwy 332, Middle LaHave. In my personal experience, biscuits are at their peak hot and fresh out of the oven with a reckless amount of butter on them and a heaping spoonful of jam. If serving later at any maritime gathering, be sure to have sliced old cheddar at the ready. Now prepare yourself for endless praise coming your way because every Maritimer loves a good biscuit. I find it helps to have a good joke on deck: “That biscuit didn’t stand a chance! You ate it faster than a seagull at a picnic!”.
