GeckoFood's Journal: [food] Buttermilk Cornmeal Biscuits

It has been a long time since I have posted anything bread-related (I went back through and discovered that my last bread post was in November? I should be horsewhipped). That's mainly because I haven't had the time to get in the kitchen and get anything made. I finally managed to turn the tide last night, though this is certainly not a complex recipe. As before, recipe first, notes to follow.

Here's a pic.

Buttermilk Cornmeal Biscuits

• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons solid shortening
• 1 cup buttermilk or yogurt

Sift together the dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, then add the buttermilk all at once. Stir the dough so that it all comes together but do not overstir.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and turn to coat, but handle the dough as little as possible. Pat the dough out to about 1/2" thickness and cut into rounds using a biscuit cutter.

Place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 450 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.

NOTES:

1. The original recipe came from a collection called "Recipes from the Old Mill". I rewrote it to make it easier to follow.
2. In spite of there being more flour than cornmeal in these, you'd never know without looking at the actual recipe.
3. In my oven, 11 minutes baking time is *perfect*.
4. These are best when fresh from the oven. They're ok the next day but nowhere near as good on the first day.
5. The more you handle the dough, the tougher the biscuits turn out, so handle as little as possible. This makes the dough a little sticky but it's worth it in the end.
6. These match well with the likes of soup. :-)
7. I patted these a little thin so the result is a thin biscuit, as is evident in the picture. I could have made them a little thicker but I would have gotten less - it's a matter of personal preference.

Mmmm.

[dexterpexter]

Oh boy, do I plan on trying these. Thanks!

Re:

[GeckoFood]

You're most certainly welcome. They're very easy and they don't take long at all.