Buttermilk Biscuits

Second buttermilk recipe. Biscuits seemed like a good choice- unfortunately, I am not yet sure what I will serve them with, so they are currently in the freezer.

This is another Joy of Cooking recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoons salt (I used 1/2 teaspoon)

1.) Whisk the above ingredients together in a large bowl.

2.) Drop into the bowl 5 to 6 tablespoons of cold, unsalted butter, cut in small pieces. (I used 5 tablespoons.) You then need to cut the butter into the dough- if you don't have a pastry blender, like me, you can use a fork to mash the butter around the flour. You need to get the mixture to become crumbly (Joy of Cooking says it will resemble breadcrumbs, with the largest pieces pea-sized.)

3.) Add 3/4 cup buttermilk and stir good.

4.) Gather the dough into a ball and knead it gently against the sides and bottom of the bowl 5 to 10 times, turning and pressing any loose pieces into the dough each time until they adhere and the bowl is fairly clean.

5.) Put the dough on a floured surface and roll out to 1/2 inch thick. You can then make round biscuits using either a round cutter or the top of a glass, or made square biscuits by rolling the dough into a rectangle and cutting it into squares. (I made round biscuits using a glass.)

6.) Put the biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet, brush the tops with melted butter or milk to make them brown (optional), and stick them in a 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. (I did for 12 minutes.)

7.) Let the biscuits cool a bit. Serve them hot.