Gently stir in the cream, then the buttermilk.  Continue stirring until dough resembles cottage cheese.

Spoon 3-4 scoops of dough well apart from each other in flour.  Sprinkle flour over each and form into round ball, shaking off the excess flour as you work.  Place the biscuits in the prepared pan.  Biscuits should be scrunched up against its neighbor, so that they rise and don’t spread out.

Bake for 20-25 minutes in a 425 degree oven, or until lightly golden.  Cut and serve immediately.  I like eating mine with a spoonful of Stonewall Kitchen’s, Wild Maine Blueberry Jam!

“Touch-of-Grace” Southern Biscuits
Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray
2 cups spooned leveled self-rising flour (low protein Southern U.S. flour like White Lily or any self-rising flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup buttermilk, or enough for dough to resemble cottage cheese (if you are not using low-protein flour it will take more than 1 cup)
1 cup plain all-purpose flour, for shaping
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, for brushing

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees and arrange a shelf below the center of the oven.  Spray an 8 or 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together the self-rising flour, sugar, and salt.  Work the shortening in with your fingers until there are no large lumps.  Gently stir in the cream, then some of the buttermilk.  Continue stirring in buttermilk until THE DOUGH RESEMBLES COTTAGE CHEESE.  It should be a wet mess-not soup, but cottage-cheese texture.  If you are not using a low-protein flour, this may require considerably more than 1 cup of buttermilk.
3.  Spread the plain (not self-rising) flour out on a plate or pie pan.  With a medium (2-inch) ice cream scoop or spoon, place 3 or 4 scoops of dough well apart in the flour.  Sprinkle flour over each.  Flour your hands.  Turn a dough ball in the flour to coat, pick it up, and gently shape into a round, shaking off the excess flour as your work.  Place the biscuit into the prepared pan.  Coat each dough ball in the same way and place each biscuit SCRUNCHED UP AGAINST ITS NEIGHBOR so that the biscuits rise up and don’t spread out.  Continue scooping and shaping until all the dough is used.
4.  Place the pan on the arranged shelf in the oven.  Bake until lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes.  Brush with the melted butter.  Invert onto one plate, and then back onto another.  With a knife of spatula, cut quickly between biscuits to make them easy to remove.  Serve immediately.

Yield:  Makes 12 to 14 medium biscuits
“BakeWise” by Shirley Corriher

Wow!  These buttermilk biscuits are amazing and my all-time favorite!  They are so buttery, flakey, and moist!  Perfect for jam or honey and a great side with grilled chicken, pork chops, or steaks!  This recipe comes from former executive pastry chef, Nick Malgieri’s cookbook, “Bake!  Essential Techniques for Perfect Baking”.  These are actually a modification of “Sourdough Biscuits” in Malgieri’s cookbook; the only difference is that these biscuits use buttermilk instead of whole milk, and baking soda is added to the recipe.  Enjoy!

Buttery Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
14 tbsp (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 12 pieces
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Directions
1.  Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees.
2.  Combine the flour baking powder, soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse several times to mix.
3.  Add the butter and pulse again repeatedly until no visible pieces of butter remain and the mixture is still cool and powdery, but not pasty.
4.  Invert to a mixing bowl and carefully remove the blade.  Add the buttermilk and use a rubber spatula to scrape upward from the bottom of the bowl and moisten the dough as evenly as possible.
5.  Invert the contents of the bowl to a floured work surface.  Press the dough into a 6- to 7- inch square, then fold it in three:  Fold the bottom third of the dough closest to you up over the middle third, then fold the top third down over that. Press it out again a little longer in the length and repeat the folding into thirds, this time from the short ends.  Press the dough back out into a 6- to 7- inch square.
6.  Use a 2- to 2 1/2- inch plain round cutter, flouring it before each cut, to cut out the biscuits.  Cut straight down and don’t twist the cutter or the biscuits won’t bake straight-sided.  Cut them close together to avoid generating too many scraps.
7.  Press the scraps together into a rectangle only as wide as your cutter and three times as long.  Cut out three more biscuits and discard the remaining scraps.
8.  Arrange the biscuits about 1 inch apart on the prepared pans.  For advance preparation, cover the pans with plastic wrap and chill the biscuits for up to 2 hours before baking, then bake them straight from the refrigerator, without returning them to room temperature.  If you intend to prepare the biscuits in advance, preheat the oven only about 20 minutes before baking.
9.  Bake the biscuits until they are deep golden and well risen, 15 to 20 minutes.  Let the baked biscuits cool for a couple of minutes on the pan before serving.

Yield:  12 biscuits

“Bake!  Essential Techniques for Perfect Baking” by Nick Malgieri

Whisk together flour, baking soda, powder, salt and sugar.

Combine buttermilk and melted butter.

Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients.

Drop biscuit onto parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake for 12-14 minutes in a 475 degree oven.

Drop Biscuits
Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp table salt
1 cup cold buttermilk
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (about 5 minutes), plus 2 tbsp melted butter for brushing biscuits

Directions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl.
3. Combine buttermilk and 8 tbsp melted butter in medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small clumps.
4. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of bowl.
5. Using greased 1/4 cup dry measure, scoop level amount of batter and drop onto parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, spacing biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart.
6. Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 12 to 14 minutes.
7. Brush biscuit tops with remaining 2 tbsp melted butter. Let cool 5 minutes before serving. (We omitted this step).

Yield: 12 biscuits

Here is another Buttermilk Biscuit recipe from Reata Restaurant’s “A Cowboy in the Kitchen” Cookbook. This is my family’s favorite biscuit recipe and we have made them at least a dozen times. Enjoy!

Mix together the flour, baking powder, soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.

Add the shortening and butter and work them in using a pastry cutter, fork, or your hands. Pour in the buttermilk and mix the dough until most of the flour is absorbed.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 4 to 6 times. Roll the dough to a thickness of 1 to 1 1/2 inches.

Cut 2 1/2 inch rounds out of the dough with a biscuit cutter and place them on a prepared baking pan. Reroll the remaining scraps and cut again. Let the biscuits rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 10 to 30 minutes.

Bake the biscuits in 400 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

Reata’s Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups flour
5 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (optional)
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper, or lightly coat it with butter. Set aside.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the pecans if you are using them. Blend the dry ingredients with a whisk.
4. Add the shortening and butter and work them in using a pastry cutter, fork, or your hands.
5. Pour in the buttermilk and mix the dough until most of the flour is absorbed.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it 4 to 6 times. You should have a stiff dough that is not sticky. Roll the dough to a thickness of 1 to 1 1/2 inches.
7. Cut 2 1/2 inch rounds out of the dough with a biscuit cutter and place them on the prepared pan. Reroll the remaining scraps and cut again. Let the biscuits rise at room temperature until doubled in size 10 to 30 minutes. The tops may be brushed with melted butter for a browner top.
8. Bake the biscuits in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and serve hot.

Yield: 16 biscuits

Biscuits are one of my favorite breads so I had to try this new recipe for Buttermilk Biscuits out of Williams-Sonoma’s new cookbook called “Comfort Food”. They were fast, easy, buttery, delicious, and great with your favorite jam or honey.

Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 cup cake flour (I just used all-purpose flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled
3/4 cup buttermilk

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Have ready an ungreased rimmed baking sheet.
2. In a bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut the butter into tablespoons and scatter over the flour mixture.
3. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture just until the mixture forms coarse crumbs the size of peas.
4. Add the buttermilk and stir just until the dough comes together. Knead the dough a few times in the bowl.
5. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Using a light touch, pat out the dough into a round 3/4 inch thick.
6. Using a 2 1/2 inch round biscuit cutter or cookie cutter, cut out as many rounds as possible.
7. Place them 1 inch apart on the baking sheet.
8. Bake the biscuits until they have risen and are golden brown, 18-20 minutes. Serve hot with honey, butter, or jam.

Makes 6-8 biscuits