by Stefan Lonce
As all of you who have been reading my column knows, I’ll do anything to NOT go to the grocery store. As a matter of fact, that’s how I started baking…I didn’t want to go out to get hamburger rolls for dinner one night, so I baked them. That’s how these drop biscuits originated. I had a stew on the stove for dinner (one of the good things about working from home, I can have dinner going in the next room) and was planning on having it with egg noodles. Yep, you guessed it, no egg noodles in the cabinet. So, drop biscuits. Not only didn’t I have to go to the store, but they only take about 20 minutes to make!
I found a recipe, and after working with it for a while, came up with my own version. The original calls for cutting in the cold butter, which I always found to be a hassle. So, I melted it…and it worked! Then I messed around with the leavening, added sugar and made sure all the ingredients are divisible by two, so even small households can use the recipe. As printed, the recipe makes around 10 biscuits. No buttermilk, don’t worry. Put a tablespoon of white vinegar in your measuring cup and fill it to the 1 cup line with regular milk. Stir and let sit 5 minutes. Now it has the same acidity as buttermilk and will react with the leavening.I hope you enjoy these quick, easy, and tasty biscuits.
Easy Drop Biscuits
INGREDIENTS:
- 8 tbls. (1 stick) Unsalter Butter melted
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 tbls. Granulated Sugar
- 2 tsp. Baking Powder
- 1 tsp. Table Salt
- ½ tsp. Baking Soda
- 1 cup Buttermilk*
INSTRUCTIONS:
Have your oven rack in the center position and preheat your oven to 450°.- Cut butter into tablespoon pieces and microwave it at 15 second intervals, stirring in between, until it is melted. Set aside to cool.
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl and whisk until well combined.
- Using a large measuring cup, measure out your buttermilk (or your substitution) and slowly drizzle in the melted butter, whisking all the time until combined. It’s alright if it separates a bit.
- Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients. Using a spoon or spatula, gently fold together wet and dry ingredients together until combined. Don’t overmix as this will make a very dense and dry biscuit (I found that out the hard way).
- Scoop your batter by a scant ¼ cup and drop on an ungreased, or parchment lined (if you like to save clean-up as I do)
baking sheet, spacing them about 2” apart. - Bake in the preheated 450° oven for 10-12 minutes or until the top begin to turn a light golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving. Brushing some additional melted butter over the tops while still warm adds to the experience. Enjoy!
*No Buttermilk? No problem. Put 1 tbls. white vinegar in the bottom of your measuring cup and fill it to the 1 cup line with regular milk. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes.
