Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits with Homemade Blueberry-Strawberry Jam
Nibbles and Bites Issue #43: I've basically been at summer camp for four days!
Happy Sunday!
I am naturally an early riser, which means that there are many weekend mornings where I have a few hours to myself before the rest of the house wakes up. When I am in my own house, I typically use this time to fold the laundry or to put away all the clean dishes from the day before. I might even lure the puppy into the bathtub for a washing during this quiet time.
However, this weekend I spent time in New Hampshire with my family and didn’t have any morning tasks to check off my list so I decided to surprise everyone else with homemade buttermilk biscuits instead. The idea came to mind at 7:00am sharp and by 8:00am they were piping hot and coming right out of the oven.
Buttermilk is the perfect addition to biscuits because it is tangy and acidic, it gives off an almost fermented, sourdough like taste when baked that is subtle. It’s also a great tenderizer, lending itself well for use in baked goods since it combats the toughness that can often happen when dough is over kneaded and gluten is overworked. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can definitely substitute it with whole milk and a bit of lemon juice or you can thin out some sour cream and milk to get a somewhat similar taste although the tenderizing power will be slightly diminished.
In my recipe, I decided to perfume the biscuits with a bit of orange zest. I say perfumed intentionally, because the amount of orange zest that I used is barely enough to actually taste, but just gives off a delicious, warming citrus scent when the piping hot biscuits are sliced open. I served these biscuits warm with a pat of butter and a dollop of my mom’s homemade blueberry-strawberry jam and then placed the top half of the biscuit on top to create a little biscuit and jam sandwich.
Served this way, they reminded me of a miniature version of the loaded biscuits and jam (photo below!) served at Tandem Coffee Roasters in Portland, Maine, one of my favorite bakeries of all time. If you haven’t been to Portland, you must book a trip right now not solely for the biscuits, cakes and cookies at Tandem, but to explore one of the most vibrant, friendly and delicious cities in New England.
Buttermilk Biscuits with Blueberry-Strawberry Jam
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp orange zest
1 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
¾ cup cold buttermilk
2 tablespoons of buttermilk or cream for brushing
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a reusable silicone baking mat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together both of the flours, baking powder, baking soda, orange zest and salt until evenly combined. Add the diced butter to the flour mixture and toss to combine. Use your fingers to break apart the butter into small, finer pieces. Continue to work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles small pebbles or coarse sand.
Add the cold buttermilk to the bowl and mix gently to combine until the dough starts to come together. Spill the mixture onto a work surface and start working it together with your hands, being careful not to over mix. Pat the dough into a rectangular shape and fold it over itself like an envelope. Continue this flattening and folding technique twice to create layers of butter in the dough.
Then roll the dough out until it is about ½ inch thick and using a 2” biscuit cutter, cut out your biscuits. Assemble the biscuits on the baking sheet leaving a few inches in between. Continue punching out biscuits until you have about 8 or 9 total. The dough can also be gently reworked and rolled out to cut out the last few remaining pieces.
Use your thumb to gently press down the center of each biscuit creating a small divot on top of each biscuit to prevent puffing. Then brush each of the biscuits with a bit of heavy cream or buttermilk and bake for exactly 15 minutes. Make sure to rotate the baking sheet halfway through to ensure that all sides are evenly golden brown. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool slightly. Serve, sliced in half horizontally with a bit of butter and jam.
Let it be known, that I did try and make the Blueberry Latte that has been taking the internet by storm this week with some of the leftover jam and I have to say I don’t understand the hype nor could I pick out the blueberry flavor in my coffee. If someone has a technique or recipe to follow, let me know!
Until next time,
Kristen