Best-ever Buttermilk Biscuits, the recipe

It seems like every time I'm home, my dad makes something new and yummy for me to eat. Recently, it was made from scratch biscuits. They were delectable. So he gave me the recipe and encouraged me to try them on my own. They were SO good!!! Here's the recipe (from Cuisine at Home)!

Best-ever Buttermilk Biscuits
Makes 10 biscuits
Total time: 30 minutes
 
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. table salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups cake flour
5 Tbsp. cold vegetable shortening, cubed
4 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a bowl; set aside.
3. Pulse cake flour, shortening, and cubed butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment
until fats are pea-sized flakes. 
4. Mix in all-purpose flour mixture just until blended. Add buttermilk to dry ingredients and mix just until moistened.
5. Turn dough onto a lightly-floured surface, and knead just until dough holds together. Pat dough into a
1-inch-thick circle.
6. Using a 2-inch biscuit cutter, cut dough into 10 biscuits. Transfer the biscuits to prepared baking sheet and bake until golden, 15–18 minutes. Brush tops with melted butter during last few minutes of baking.

My confessions:

*I didn't have cake flour. I used regular unbleached flour. If you ask my roommate, the biscuits still tasted great, so no worries here! But if you must, here is a trick for turning all-purpose flour into cake flour (but I didn't google it until after I was done with the biscuits).

*I don't have a stand mixer yet. I'm trying to hold off until I can add one to my wedding registry. So, I made do with the ten pincers I have at the end of my arms. They worked just fine instead of the paddle attachment. :)

*This was my first time using buttermilk. It smelled disgusting, but apparently it's supposed to??

*My batch made 8 regular biscuits and one "doggy biscuit."

*They were wonderfully delicious topped with butter and raw, local honey.

Go ahead, give them a try!

 

Test Kitchen: Cappuccino Muffins

When I lived in Portugal, another teacher at the school and dear friend brought treats to school one morning. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. They tasted heavenly with a sweet coffee and chocolate flavor.

I went to bed last night thinking about them. We had a teachers' meeting this morning, which gives me the perfect opportunity to make something and be forced to share before I devour the whole batch. I woke up just as excited about them as I was when I drifted off to sleep, so I added them to my routine this morning. Here's the recipe. Bon appetit!

 instagram

Cappuccino Muffins

Espresso Spread: (which I didn't make since I had no cream cheese... such a travesty)
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup 2% milk
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

• In a food processor, combine the spread ingredients; cover and process until well blended. Transfer to a small bowl; cover and refrigerate until serving.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, combine milk and coffee granules until coffee is dissolved. Add the butter, egg and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.
• Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 375° for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Serve warm with espresso spread.

Nutritional Facts 1 muffin with 1 tablespoon spread equals 273 calories, 14 g fat (9 g saturated fat), 44 mg cholesterol, 261 mg sodium, 34 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein.