So after making last week’s apple cider donuts I had a huge carton left of buttermilk. Knowing that I would be the only one to have a use for it, I decided to make some buttermilk biscuits for the heck of it. Biscuits are delicious with dinner, for breakfast or just because their on the counter and you want one. The recipe I used was adapted from Alton Brown’s foodnetwork recipe and using slight alterations I made a very delicious cheddar buttermilk biscuit. My intent was to make scallion cheddar buttermilk biscuits, but my scatterbrain self forgot to pick them up while on a run to the grocery store. I didn’t miss them because these turned out great, but definitely next time.

These are perfect to make in big batches because it freezes so well. So stop buying your biscuits from a can you need to pop open. These are sure to be a household favorite and are super easy to throw together. NO EXCUSES PEOPLE! Great, delicious food can be easy to make with a little planning and patience!

Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits

Yields: 1 dozen

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1 cup buttermilk, chilled
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using your fingertips, rub the butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture resembles crumbs (work fast so the fats don’t melt from the heat of your hands).
3. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour in the chilled buttermilk and cheese. Stir JUST until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky but do not add more flour to mixture.
4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, dust the top with flour and gently fold dough over onto itself 5 or 6 times (this creates the flaky layers inside the biscuit).
5. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down the dough (don’t have a 2-inch cutter? Improvise! My house has an excess of cocktail shakers, making for many metal ring cutouts in many different sizes!).
6. Place biscuits onto baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform the scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. Note: the biscuits from the second pass might not be as light as those from the first.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the biscuits are tall and lightly golden on top.

Recipe Note:

These freeze wonderfully! Continue the process until the very end. Place them on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer until the biscuits become hardened. Now just individually wrap them and place in a zip-lock bag until you’re ready to bake. Place in the oven straight from the freezer and cook for an extra 5 minutes.