Tasty Tuesday: Buttermilk Biscuits

Big, warm, soft buttermilk biscuits.

Eat them in the morning, slathered in gravy or eat them in the evening, alongside fried chicken.

They're pretty much perfect.

We used to buy the refrigerated biscuits in the blue can all the time. They were convenient, easy, and pretty good.

But then, years ago, I started making my own.

And I've never looked back.

Making homemade biscuits may not be as convenient as pulling a tube out of the fridge, unraveling the wrapper, whacking it on the counter, and placing the dough on a cookie sheet . . . but it's pretty close.

I toss the ingredients in my food processor, mix it up, plop it onto a cookie sheet, flatten it a little with my hands, and cut out the biscuits. Start to finish, it takes me about 5 minutes to whip up the very best biscuits. Ever.

The hardest part about it???

Trying to keep my little ones from gobbling them all up!



Notes:

• I never buy buttermilk. I measure about 1 cup of whole milk and mix in 1 tablespoon of white vinegar (or lemon juice) and leave it. After I add the other ingredients to the processor, the milk has curdled nicely, and I stir it and add it, as well.
• I love my Silpat mats and use them whenever I can. I plop the dough onto a mat, cut out the biscuits, and bake them right on the mat. There is no need to use extra flour. There is no mess. The food bakes evenly.
• Most recipes using buttermilk will include baking soda because of the acidity. I have added the baking soda to this recipe and have made different recipes altogether. The biscuits do not rise as well and are not as fluffy, in my opinion. 
• These turn out well using whole milk in place of the buttermilk.
• I almost always use butter-flavored shortening. It produces a rich, flavorful biscuit.
• I have used half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour. They turn out well, but as with any whole wheat recipe, the biscuits are a little denser and not as fluffy. I highly recommend using all all-purpose.
• If the dough is too wet, add 1 teaspoon flour; if it's too dry, add 1 teaspoon water or milk. I like it a little on the sticky side. Too much flour will make the biscuits tough. If the dough sticks to my metal biscuits cutter, I shake it to get it out. I always have some residual dough on my hands when I am finished.   
• As with any dough, you do not want to over-work it. I run my food processor long enough only to combine the ingredients. After I dump it out, I pat it a few times to get it to the thickness I desire. 
• You can cut the biscuits any size. I use my 2½" or 3" (shown here) cutters. You'll know when they're done when the edges start to brown. I rarely use the timer when I make breads. I tend to just bake until my eyes tell me it's done.
• If you rub a stick of butter on the tops when they come out of the oven, they will taste like KFC's biscuits, but better.
• The biscuits start to separate across the middle. It makes it easy to pull the halves apart and add butter, jam, or gravy. Or, if you're like my hubby, you can eat them plain. (But why would you want to do that?)

Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients:
2 c  flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1/3 c shortening
1 c buttermilk

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients in food processor, fitted with dough blade, and mix until dough pulls away from the sides.
2. Turn out onto a baking mat, or floured surface, and pat dough out to about 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used.
3. Bake on the baking mat or an ungreased cookie sheet at 400°F for 13 to 15 minutes or until edges begin to brown.

Tasty Tuesday: Pumpkin Bread

Have I mentioned how much I love quick breads? Oh, I have? Well, I really do. Not just because they're quick and easy, but because they taste soooo yummy!

We showed how Jake made banana bread all by himself. 

And in our chocolate chai bread post, Alyssa used the hand-mixer by herself for the first time!

Here, you'll see Alyssa has improved much in the kitchen during the last 10 months.

She cracked the eggs all by herself.

Better yet - she dropped NO pieces of shell!

Eating a marshmallow while making the bread? Multitasking already. Girl after my own heart. She's come a long way from the first time she used the mixer.

The kids just love grating the nutmeg. She wanted to turn the entire seed to powder. It's a good thing it's the season of spice baking.

And since when did she learn to dump a bowl of something into another bowl without pouring it on the counter in the process???

I'm amazed while watching my children in the kitchen. They've learned so much and truly enjoy creating delicious foods. 

I'd better be careful though - pretty soon they just might kick me out of the kitchen and take over for good!

We made a simple glaze (1 1/4 cup powdered sugar & 3 tablespoons milk) and drizzled it on top of one loaf after it (mostly) cooled.

For the second loaf, we swirled 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips into the batter before baking.

Which one is better? You be the judge! Try this recipe yourself and see. You really can't go wrong with this one. Try adding walnuts, cranberries, white chocolate chips, or caramel. No matter how we've made it, we always love it! Even plain, it still ranks up at the top of my list for quick breads - and that's saying something!

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree                           
4 eggs                                                               
1 c vegetable oil                                               
2/3 c water                                                         

2 c white sugar                                                   

1 c brown sugar                                                 
3 1/2 c all-purpose flour   
2 ts baking soda
1 1/2 ts salt
1 ts ground cinnamon   
1 ts ground nutmeg
1/2 ts ground cloves
1/4 ts ground ginger
                                                               
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

3. Bake for about 60 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Amish Friendship Bread

The Amish are known for their beautiful handmade furniture, their ornate quilts, and their simple lifestyle. While we have no Amish in our area, every now and then a starter bag of their Friendship Bread gets passed around. Not only is it delicious, it's fun to share with friends. I received a bag from my neighbor a couple weeks ago and was so excited. It's been a few years since I've made it. I've said how much I love quick breads. This one doesn't disappoint. 

The recipe is a typical sourdough that ferments over a period of 10 days. On days, 6 and 10, you add ingredients to grow your starter. By the end, you'll have enough for 4 batches, or 8 loaves. This is why it's called friendship bread. Who needs 8 loaves at a time? Although, I'm sure my family could handle it.

Amish Friendship Bread Recipe

Please Note: DO NOT use any type of metal spoon or bowl for mixing. DO NOT refrigerate. It is normal for the batter to rise and ferment.

Day 1 - Do nothing.

Day 2 - Mash the bag.

Day 3 - Mash the bag.

Day 4 - Mash the bag.

Day 5 - Mash the bag.

Day 6 - Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk. Mash the bag.

Day 7 - Mash the bag.

Day 8 - Mash the bag.

Day 9 - Mash the bag.

Day 10 - Follow the directions below:

   1. Pour the entire bag into a nonmetal bowl. Add 1 1/2 cup flour, 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cup milk.
   2. Measure out 4 separate batters of 1 cup each into 4 1-gallon Ziploc bags.
   3. Keep one of the bags for yourself, and give the other bags to 3 friends along with the recipe.
   4. To the remaining batter in a bowl add the following:

3 eggs
1 cup oil                                         

1/2 cup milk                                             
1 cup sugar                                             
1/2 teaspoon vanilla                                 
2 teaspoons cinnamon                           
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
1-2 boxes instant pudding (any flavor)
1 cup nuts and 1 cup raisins (optional)

In a separate bowl, mix an additional 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Sprinkle half of it in 2 greased loaf pans. Pour the batter evenly into the pans and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture on the top. Bake at 325° F for one hour or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

It was an interesting process with the kids. Jake hated coming near the bag since it stinks. It is sourdough after all, though there's so much sugar in it you can't tell after it's baked. Zac, on the other hand, wanted to eat it every time I let him hold the bag. On day 6, Alyssa tipped it upside down and squeezed a cupful right out the top. Thankfully, she was still sitting on the counter. The kitchen smelled lovely after that.

That's ok. We can handle the smell when the end result is something so delicious.

I did keep a bag of starter. In another 6 days, we'll be baking again. There are so many variations for this batter. Blueberry. Cappuccino. Cinnamon rolls. Brownies. Cherry-pistachio? Carrot-coconut? No thank you. There are many non-sweet versions too. Sourdough bread and biscuits, pancakes, waffles, cornbread, muffins. If you can think of it, there's a recipe for it. You can also freeze your starter for later use. Simply let thaw on the counter for at least 3 hours before using.

I'm planning to hang on to a starter for a while so I can try some of these. Probably not the cherry-pistachio or the carrot-coconut. So, if you'd like to squish and mash a bag for 10 days, let me know. I'll have 3 more in 6 days, 3 more in 16 days, 3 more in 26 days . . . you get the point. I'll have plenty to share. Just ask! You won't be sorry.

Tasty Tuesday: Cinnamon Swirl Bread

As soon as I mention the word cinnamon, Jake's eyes go wide and ears perk up. I'm sure I could put cinnamon on anything, and he would eat it. I've also mentioned how much we like breads. Then, what could be better than cinnamon swirl bread?

Ingredients:

1 large room temperature egg             1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup milk                                          3 1/2 cups bread flour
3/4 cup water approx.                           2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup softened butter                        1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/3 cup sugar

Filling:
1/3 cup melted butter, cooled                1 egg white
1/3 cup sugar                                         1 1/2 tsp sugar ( for the topping)
3 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1. Put the egg and milk in a measuring cup, and add enough warm water to make 1 cup. Pour into the bread machine pan. Add the softened butter, 1/3 cup sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast. Set the bread machine to the dough cycle. When it beeps, add the raisins if using. Let continue to end of cycle.

2. Once done, remove the dough from the machine and dump it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it out to a 10×12 rectangle. Brush the surface of the dough with egg whites. Next, brush with melted butter. Combine the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over dough, leaving 1 inch edge all around.

3. Roll the dough from the short side, and pinch the ends together where they meet. Roll the ends under, and place the dough in a greased 12 inch loaf pan. Cover and let it rise in a warm place for one hour.

4. Once dough has risen, brush the top with egg whites and sprinkle with 1 1/2 tsp sugar. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes.

Oh. My. Goodness. This bread is good. It tastes like one big cinnamon roll. In fact, I must have thought that was what we were making because I rolled the dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. I had to ball it up and start over. I was concerned the dough would be over-worked, but it was still delish. Also, I don't have a 12 inch loaf pan. I squished the dough into my 9 inch pan.

While the bread isn't as good as our cinnamon rolls, (Is there anything that good?) it will be added to our bread list. I also read that this bread is great for French toast. Truly though, I would have to make 2 loaves for that to happen. We eat it too fast!

I had a revelation today. I know, this is going to sound obvious to some, but it just hit me. Like 2 seconds ago. I have always used bread machine yeast in my bread machine. Makes sense. But, I use it for making dough in it also. I'm guessing that I should use regular active dry yeast when making just dough since it rises after too and will rise better. Leighton already gave me the go-ahead to try it tomorrow. What a guy! We might make that French toast after all.