Sunday, July 1, 2007

Mile High Buttermilk Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Mile High Buttermilk Biscuits

I first made these biscuits for Thanksgiving last year and hands down they are the best biscuits ever. Gone are the days of buying tubes of preservative-laden, artificially flavored biscuit dough, though I must say I miss the entertaining “pop” of opening those cylinders. These crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside biscuits are absolutely delicious on their own or smothered in sausage gravy.

Mile High Buttermilk Biscuits
From Cook’s Illustrated

2 C flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 C buttermilk
Additional flour
2 Tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 500ºF. Spray a 9 in springform or cake pan with some nonstick spray.

Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt to a bowl and mix the ingredients together evenly. Using a fork or pastry blender, cut in the butter until the pieces are no bigger than a small pea. Fold in the buttermilk until everything is just blended, and there are no streaks of flour remain. Do not overmix, the mixture should still be lumpy.

Line a plate or tray with some flour and using a 1/4 C measuring cup or 1/4 C ice cream/cookie scoop, scoop out balls of the dough onto the tray of flour. Flour your hands and roll each ball around in the flour to evenly coat them in a layer of flour. The dough is very wet and very sticky. Place the dough balls into the prepared pan. Place 9 balls around in a ring and 3 balls in the center of the pan. Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter.

Bake for 5 minutes at 500ºF (middle rack) and then lower the temperature to 450ºF and bake for another 15 minutes.

In the past I've always baked these in a cake pan or springform. Alternatively you can also bake them individually in a muffin pan which is what I did this time because I’m waiting for my newly ordered cake pans and springform to arrive. I baked these on the upper middle shelf and at 450ºF for the entire time of about 17 minutes.

20 comments:

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

I don't think biscuits are seasonal -- these would be just as good with fried chicken or almost anything cooked on the grill. Yum!

Anonymous said...

These look like cornbread/muffins. You do your cooking and baking all so well. :D

Anonymous said...

Amy, so fluffy..I can do that without the gravy, yums !:)

Betsy said...

I make this for dinner a lot. Obviously it is a quick dinner when you use tubed biscuits and packaged gravy. That is why I make it. I am definitely going to be trying these recipes because I know it is so much better for the body!

Peter M said...

Amy, 1st time visitor to your blog and the biscuits look great...I've been searching for a recipe like this, thanks!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Oooohhh, biscuits!!! I love them! With sausage gravy, they must be super delicious...

Anne said...

Ooh! I've never made biscuits but I just decided to make a batch for 4th of July. I'll try this recipe! :)

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Gotta love that Cook's Illustrated.

Anonymous said...

these looks simply delicious! :)

Amy said...

Lydia,
Mm I agree these would be delish with fried chicken.

Tigerfish,
Aw thank you. Hehe they do look very muffin like.

Melting Wok,
I can eat lots of these biscuits plain too. We usually finish a whole batch in a day. :D

Betsy,
I also love making this because it's a very quick dinner. I think the butter might add up especially if you're like me and eats at least 3 biscuits. :D But the salt content is lower and there are no weird chemicals or preservatives. :)

Peter,
I'm glad you like it! Thanks for visiting and enjoy the recipe!

Rosa,
We were scooping up every last bit of the gravy with the biscuits. Mmm...

Anne,
Let me know how you like them!

Tanna,
Indeed, I looooove CI recipes. All the ones I've tried have turned out wonderful!

Cooking Ninja,
Thank you!

Amrita said...

That's one seriously gorgeous looking biscuit!

Cheryl said...

Having just had last night biscuits from one of those pop up cans, I only wish I had these beautiful ones you made. They look so moist and delicious.

Anonymous said...

Holy cow. That's one gratuitous looking biscuit-pic. Now I have no choice but to make these as soon as possible, since I now crave them enormously....

Elle said...

Great looking biscuit...light and fluffy! Interesting prep...rolling in the flour and putting them in a cake pan like yeast rolls. Sounds YUM!

Anne said...

Yum! It worked out very well indeed! I just pulled the pan out of the oven, and one of the biscuits right down to my tummy. Very, very good! I hope my guests like them too! (Or not - more for me!)

Mari said...

Another reason to get an online Membership to Cook's Illustrated! I'm a biscuit girl, heart and soul; add sausage gravy and I'm your slave. Looking forward to making this recipe!

Anonymous said...

You had me at Mile High Buttermilk Biscuits...Oh my! Those look good.

Amy said...

Amrita,
Aw thanks! If it could, that biscuit would definitely be blushing. ;D

Cheryl,
Thanks! I really love digging into the moist and fluffy interior.

Anonymous,
Let me know how you like them! :)

Elle,
Like many CI recipes, the methods were a little odd, but the end result is great.

Anne,
Hurrah I'm so glad! I hope you set aside a few biscuits for yourself. ;)

Mevrouw Cupcake,
I agree, an online membership to CI is a really valuable tool. Biscuits and sausage gravy were made for each other. :D

Kristen,
Thank you!

Anonymous said...

I made these tonight. They had a delicious flavor and were very light and fluffy, but not very high. The ones on the outside of the pan didn't rise much at all, they sort of spread out flat. Is my springform pan too big?

Amy said...

Hi Anonymous,

It could be that your springform was too big. The original CI recipe specified a 9inch springform. I've had good results with an 8 inch cake pan. Also make sure to work quickly as the acidity in the buttermilk and the baking soda start to work right away. Try to get them into the oven as soon as possible. You can also try baking them individually in a muffin tin and see if that works better. Keep me posted! :)

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