Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

A couple of days ago I promised to give the recipe for Buttermilk Drop Biscuits. This is a favorite of mine and is a spin-off of my Mom's recipe (she used regular milk). If they are done right, the outside is crunchy with a soft inside - mmm, mmm, good! So much for my gabbing, you want the recipe, so here it is:

Utensils (Hardware, for you computer folks):

1 or 2 nine inch cake pans or a cookie sheet, preferably non-stick
2 quart (or larger) bowl for mixing dough
fork for mixing dough
measuring spoon


Ingredients:

2 cups of All Purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder (you may substitute 1 tsp of baking soda if you don't have the powder)
1 and 1/4 to 1 and 1/2 cups buttermilk (original recipe uses milk, buttermilk just makes them better)


Directions:

1. Place oven rack in the middle position, then preheat it to 425° Fahrenheit. Once oven has come to temp, mix dough.
2. Put flour, salt and baking powder into bowl. Mix with fork to distribute the baking powder and salt into the flour more evenly.
   
3. Add 1 cup of buttermilk, use fork to mix together. Add enough of the remaining milk to the dough to make it slightly sticky to the touch - you may have to add more or less milk due to the humidity, the moisture in your flour, etc. Mix ONLY ENOUGH to make the dough come together into a ball. If you overmix the dough, you will make a tough, chewy thing that I really don't consider a biscuit - it is more like a bagel or pizza dough, but not near as good.
4. If you have nonstick pans, parchment paper or silcone mats, go to step 6.
5. Put some vegetable oil in the pans to avoid sticking.
6. Using a spoon or your fingers, tear off pieces and form into small balls about 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. The larger the biscuits, the longer the cooking time. If you make them too small, the center will not be soft and chewy.
7. You should end up with around 10 biscuits.
8. Drop each ball into the cake pans or on the cookie sheet. Leave at least 3/4 of an inch or so between each biscuit to allow for them to rise. (You don't want them to run together, as this ruins the crunchy part of the biscuit.)
9. Place them in the oven. They will take between 15 to 20 minutes to bake. Remove when there are small brown areas on them (see photo). It is rare to have really even browning, unless the dough is fairly dry, but that results in a dry biscuit, too.
   
10. You can brown them further if you like, just be careful not to overcook, as the centers will become very crunchy, too. (I will sometimes do this if all I am wanting them for is biscuits and gravy. I break them into little pieces and mix into the gravy - crunchy and delicious!)
11. If you want to butter the biscuits, you need to do this while they are still hot. Just be careful when hadling them, OK?

Here is a photo of the resulting fare:




I thank you for checking out my recipe. Check out other items in this blog.
If you need computer help, hints or tips, go to my website at Crabby's Place.
May you have a wonderful day, and God Bless!