Buttermilk Biscuits with Maple Cinnamon Butter

(makes 12)

About 5 years ago I went on the most lovely trip to Charleston (my absolute favorite city in the US) and ate one of the best biscuits of my life at Poogan’s Porch. Biscuits have always been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. I remember ordering them constantly at Bob Evans, McDonald's, Popeye’s, and even my mom making the Pillsbury ones at home on the weekends. To this day, if I see a biscuit on the menu I order it!

This past Christmas I decided to give biscuit making at home a try. I was surprised at how easy they were to make and after my fourth attempt, I’ve finally mastered the perfect homemade biscuit.

I still dream about going back to Poogan’s Porch and having their crab cake eggs Benedict with and extra side of biscuits (and an amaretto sour to drink), and after quarantine hopefully I will. Until then, this recipe will certainly satisfy my Charleston biscuit cravings!

Ingredients:

- 2 sticks Butter (salted and very cold)

- 4 cups of All Purpose Flour

- 2 tablespoons Baking powder

- 2 tablespoons Granulated Sugar

- 1 teaspoon of Salt

- 1 1/2 cups Buttermilk (very cold)

A few notes:

- As I mentioned above the butter should be VERY cold. I like to freeze the butter for an hour or so before mixing my ingredients together. I also keep my milk in the fridge until the last possible moment. Cold ingredients makes your biscuits nice and flaky, and in honor of my favorite Charleston biscuit, that is exactly what we are going for here.

- You can use a pasty cutter to cut your butter into the flour (link below) or you can use a box grater and grate your semi-frozen butter into small shavings.

- You certainly do not have to use buttermilk, regular milk is fine. However, I do recommend one with more fat than skim milk to allow for a rich, flavorful biscuit dough.

- You, also, do not need to purchase biscuit rings. However, I highly recommend you do because they have certainly come in handy with baking at home (can you say homemade donuts?!). I’ve linked the set I purchased below, however you can certainly use something you have at home to cut out the dough. Try finding a similar sized drinking glass to use for your cutter.

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl mix your flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together.

(If using a box grater this is where you would grate your semi-frozen sticks of butter and stir it into the flour mixture).

Using a knife, cut your butter into 1” pieces and add to your flour mixture. Using your pastry cutter, cut the butter into the dough until you get a coarse crumb-like texture. Slowly add in the milk and stir with a spoon until just combined. It is very important not to overwork biscuit dough.

Transfer your dough onto a floured surface and gently work together until all combined, adding flour as needed. Again, being careful to not overwork the dough as you want it to stay as cold as possible and your hands can start to warm it. Once the dough is all combined into a rectangular shape log, begin folding the dough over itself and flattening. Each time rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again. Do this about 8 times to create all those flaky layers.

Using your hands, flatten the dough until it is 1” thick. Take a 2” biscuit cutter (or drinking class), dip into flour to prevent sticking, and cut your biscuits out. Continue to refold your leftover dough until you have cut out 12 biscuits.

Place on a nonstick baking sheet about 1” apart and cook for 12 mins on the middle rack until the tops are lightly golden brown. Serve with maple cinnamon butter and enjoy!