Buttermilk Black Pepper Drop Biscuits
If there’s bread in heaven, there will be biscuits on the table! In their truest form, biscuits should be light in texture with a “melt in your mouth” quality. With a hint of sweet and a dash of spice from black pepper, these gems rise tall in the pan, ready to stand proudly on their own or hold a schmear of butter and a spoonful of jam.
Equipment
- 9" round cake pan
- ¼ cup dry measuring cup
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour, plus ¾ cup for dusting the biscuits
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, ½ if you like a bit more spice
- 4 tablespoons unsalted cold butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes,
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1-½ cups cold buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450-degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan, place the extra flour in a separate bowl and set both aside.
- In a food processor combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, kosher salt, and black pepper.
- Add the cubed butter and pulse about 8 to 12 times until the butter is in small pieces.
- Transfer the flour mixture to medium-size mixing bowl. Pour in the buttermilk and stir until the dry ingredients are just blended together, taking care not to over mix. The dough will be wet and slightly lumpy.
- Using a ¼ cup dry measuring scoop, drop rounds of dough into the flour you set aside in a small bowl. Sprinkle flour over the dough then toss gently in your hands to shape it into a loose ball, shaking off extra flour as you go. Place the rounds of biscuit dough in the prepared cake pan.
- Gently brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter. Bake at 450-degrees for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 425-degrees. Continue baking for an additional 15 to 16 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.
- Watch biscuits the last 5 minutes, if they begin to brown too quickly, simply cover loosely with foil.
Notes
My Mom always kept buttermilk on hand and like her, we almost always have some in our fridge. If you find yourself with leftover buttermilk, don't toss it - freeze it. Just measure it out then pour it into freezer-proof containers.