I’m not a food blogger, and I promise I’m not going to turn this into a food blog. However, I recently posted on LinkedIn about learning a new way to make buttermilk biscuits, and I connected it to being open to learning new things in every area of our lives, including the operating room. We hold on so tightly to “this is the way we’ve always done it” that we miss out on new ideas and new ways of doing things.
If you’re interested in the original post, you can find it on LinkedIn, but I’m going to include it here as well, if you would like to read the context for today’s blog post:
I included a picture of the biscuits with the post, and everyone wanted the recipe! So, that’s why I’m sharing this on the blog today. I can’t just post a recipe, because learning to make biscuits involves more than just reading a recipe card. I’ve taken step by step photos, and that’s just too many images to post on LinkedIn, so I’m posting them here.
Also, if you read my LinkedIn post, then you know that I referenced a man in my community named Mr. Young. He gave me two very important biscuit making tips! We didn’t completely swap recipes, so I am giving you my recipe, and I’ll include his tips as well.
If you’re interested in learning how to make biscuits, then keep reading! If you want more operating room content, there’s plenty here as well – look around and enjoy! But even OR nurses have to eat eventually, so I’m saying that biscuits fall into the “life” of The Circulating Life. On your next day off, I hope you’ll try this recipe, and if you do, let me know how it goes!
I’ve included product links where I can, to help you find the tools that I use. These links are affiliate links – they don’t increase your cost, but purchases made through them support my blog 🙂
Buttermilk Biscuits – with Pictures!
Whisk together:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Grate 1/3 cup cold butter and add to the dry ingredients. If you follow Mr. Young’s advice, you’ll use Kerry Gold unsalted butter only!
Tip: Grate the butter before cutting it into your dry ingredients. It’s so much easier to incorporate it this way!
Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until evenly incorporated and coarse crumbs form.
Pour in about 1 cup of cold buttermilk. Stir gently with a large fork to combine. Add buttermilk as needed until well combined.
Tip: The measurements for the buttermilk aren’t exact. You just have to add ‘enough’. If you add too little, the biscuits will be dry. If you add too much, your dough will be sticky and hard to knead. You’ll also find that you’ll use different amounts depending on humidity, altitude, etc. So just use the amount that works for you.
The dough should look like this. Once you have everything incorporated, allow the dough to rest for about 10 minutes.
You don’t have to, but I promise you’ll have a much better biscuit if you do!
On a floured surface, knead the dough, incorporating flour as needed so that the dough isn’t sticky. Pat the dough out into a rectangle to your desired thickness. 1/4″ thick is usually about right. Use a round biscuit cutter to cut the biscuits. Re-roll the scraps and continue cutting until the dough is gone.
Transfer the biscuits to a warm cast iron skillet and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until done.
Tip: According to Mr. Young, add warm bacon grease to your skillet before putting the biscuits in. Not a lot, but enough to cover the bottom of the skillet.
When they’re done, they should look like this! Also, check where the biscuits are touching, these places can take longer to cook, and you don’t want doughy edges!
Serve with butter, jelly, syrup, or just eat them right out of the skillet!
What did Mr. Young tell me?
Mr. Young said to use only Kerry Gold unsalted butter, and to make sure I had bacon grease in my skillet before cooking the biscuits. He didn’t tell me how much bacon grease to use, so I’ve experimented, and I feel like just having enough to cover the bottom is sufficient. The bacon grease makes the bottom of the biscuit crispy, but not hard, and the butter makes the dough incredibly soft. And the flavor? Amazing!
Now, since we’re talking food, you can also use this same recipe to make cinnamon rolls. Keep reading to find out how…
Quick Cinnamon Rolls
Since this recipe is made with biscuit dough, they don’t have to rise. Meaning, you can have cinnamon rolls on the table in less than 30 minutes!
Begin by making a double batch of biscuit dough. After kneading, roll it out into a large, thin rectangle.
Spread melted butter over the dough, then top with brown sugar and cinnamon. I do not measure this stuff. I add melted butter until it’s well covered and then just add brown sugar and cinnamon until it looks right.
Tip: If you add too much butter, the butter will melt out during backing and make a big mess. I might have done that a time or two…
Roll up the dough and pinch ends to seal. Try to keep the dough tight as you roll it up – that’s easier said than done sometimes, but do your best.
Starting in the middle of the rolled dough, cut the roll in half. Then cut each half in half again. Keep going until all of the dough is sliced. Cutting this way gives you slices that are similar in size. Place the rolls on a lined baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, or until done.
When they’re done, they should look like this. Once again, check the edges where one roll is touching another to make sure nothing is still doughy.
Whisk the following together and then generously cover the warm rolls. Enjoy!
- 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
- 2 TBSP milk
- 2 TBSP melted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
And that’s how you turn biscuits into cinnamon rolls!
I hope that you enjoy both of these recipes and that you wow your family at your next brunch or Saturday morning breakfast. And now that I’ve told you all how to make the best buttermilk biscuits, this concludes my food blogging and we’ll go back to regular operating room posts.
Enjoy!
Melanie