Nothing reminds one of the goodness of grandmother's cooking more than buttermilk biscuits made from scratch. Hot out of the oven with melted butter and spread with your favorite jelly, jam, marmalade, syrup, or honey, buttermilk biscuits are a true old-fashioned comfort food and prove that good things really do come with a little extra effort.
Unfortunately, leftover biscuits do not keep well, and usually what is not consumed quickly goes to waste. Couple that with the fact they many people today are cooking for only one or two people, and you see that making a large amount of biscuits from scratch is often not worth the trouble. There's just too much waste. Furthermore, most available biscuit recipes are portioned to feed 4 or more people.
If there isn't any buttermilk handy, not to worry. Whole or 2% milk may be substituted for the buttermilk, though using buttermilk gives the biscuits a tangy quality that many desire. In addition, buttermilk is believed to have certain baking qualities that milk does not.
As an added bonus, there is a recipe included for a quick and easy homemade berry jam. All that's needed is either fresh or frozen berries. Prepare both recipes and have hot buttermilk biscuits fresh from the oven spread luxuriously with homemade jam. What could be more appetizing than that?
Ingredients:
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. Baking powder
- 1/8 tsp. Salt
- 2 Tbsp. shortening
- 3 Tbsp. Buttermilk (or milk)
- 2 Tbsp. Butter (melted)
Directions:
- In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well.
- Cut in shortening with a knife until resembling course crumbs.
- Add milk and toss with fork until ball forms
- Place dough on floured board and kneed 5 or 6 times.
- Roll out or pat to a thickness of ½ inch.
- Place on a greased cookie sheet and brush the tops with 1 Tbsp. melted butter.
- In a preheated oven, bake at 450 degrees for 9 to 11 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Brush tops with remaining 1 Tbsp. butter.
Serve warm.
Strawberry Jam Recipe
Making easy homemade jam is simply a matter of having berries on hand. Strawberries always make an excellent choice. Slice about 5 strawberries for two people. Also blueberries or blackberries make an excellent jam.
In a small pan, melt ½ Tbsp. butter. Add ¼ cup fresh or frozen berries (thawed). Saute the berries and mash them down with a fork or the back of a spoon until a jam-like consistency. Add a small amount of sugar or honey if desired. Thin with a tsp. of water if necessary. Spread on hot biscuits and enjoy.
Christopher T. Reilly - Hello. I have been a professional writer for 25 years with experience that encompasses articles, essays, websites, Internet content, stage ...
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