Okay, I’ll admit it. I had never had a homemade biscuit until just a few short years ago. There were biscuits in my youth, it was just that they usually came in a refrigerated cardboard tube, and the young Adrienne, all bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked loved those biscuits any which way she could get them. My mom would open the tube with a whining peel, and out would pop a roll of dough, all perforated for easy handling. A few short minutes in the oven, and the house would smell like bread, and a warm biscuit would be resting on my dinner plate.
What can I say…it was California (not a place typically known for its homemade biscuits, fresh produce– yes, biscuits– no) and it was the ’80′s, an era of ease. And when I grew up, I actually tried several recipes for real homemade biscuits; and they were great. But I will be frank, the rolling pin, that sturdy object needed to make so many biscuits, is not always my companion. Don’t get me wrong, I will yield it when necessary, but struggling with the pin can be a bit much for me to take. That was why I was thrilled to find a delicious recipe for biscuit muffins that bake up like little starchy pillows of goodness.
A sweet morning treat, delicately sweetened and tinged with the flavor of ground nutmeg, these are not the sort of biscuits one would generally eat as a side to a fried chicken dinner, but they are a stupendous breakfast bread. In fact, I got the recipe from Bread for Breakfast where author, Beth Hensperger claims the recipe is from K-Paul’s restaurant in New Orleans. See, all biscuit-making credit goes to the Southerners, not Californians.
These biscuits were relatively simple to make, and required no use from my dreaded-at-times rolling pin. Just a quick pat out, and a gentle knead, and the dough is divided into 12 muffin-sized pieces. Simply plunk eat piece into a greased muffin pan, and set to bake for 30 minutes. Out of the oven comes a perfect little package of a biscuit. Tender on the inside, crisp and flaky on the outside, these muffing were the ideal conduit for rich butter, and some sweet-tart raspberry jam.
from Bread for Breakfast
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cardamom or ground nutmeg (I used 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg)
1 teaspoon salt (I used 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt)
10 tablespoon butter, cold and unsalted, and cut into small pieces
1 cup cold buttermilk
1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling, optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the cups of a standard muffin tin.
In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, nutmeg, and salt. Distribute the butter over the flour mixture, and with a fork, or an electric mixer, work in the butter until coarse crumbs are created.
Pour in the buttermilk, and mix using low speed with a mixer, or a fork, until dough forms a sticky mass, about 30 seconds. Do not overmix, you are just letting the dough come together.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Dump the dough out, sprinkle the top with flour, and knead gently, 6-8 times. The dough should remain soft and sticky. Cut the dough into 12 equal portions, and place in greased muffin cups.
Sprinkle with sugar, and bake 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove pan from oven, and transfer muffins to cooling rack to cool for a few minutes before serving.
