Buttermilk Biscuits

I recently made some split-pea soup that was very popular with one person (me) and less popular with another person (my husband, who to his credit did eat half a bowl). I badly wanted a starch to accompany the soup so I decided to try my hand at biscuits because they don't require yeast and I am still shell-shocked from the recent yeast-induced bread explosions in my oven.

Truth be told, the biscuits were not light and fluffy. In fact they somewhat resembled hockey pucks. However they were definitely edible; not too hard, but also not light enough to split in half and melt in your mouth. The saving grace was the vast quantity of butter that gave them a delicious flavor even if the consistency wasn't perfect. I'm going to keep experimenting, but these are a worthy beginning.

I adapted from this recipe: Buttermilk Biscuits.

Makes 20 biscuits.


Ingredients:

• 2 c. Jeanne's Gluten Free Flour Mix, minus xanthan gum
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. sea salt
• 2 t. ground flaxseed, mixed with 4 t. boiling water
• 8 T. ice cold butter
• 3/4 c. buttermilk (I used whole milk and added some drops of lemon juice instead)

Directions:

1. Preheat the over to 475 degrees.
2. Slice the butter onto a plate and put it in the freezer to cool. 
3. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder together into a bowl. Gradually add the butter pats and cut them into the flour with a fork or pastry cutter. Add the milk and continue to cut the dough. Mix with a spoon until it resembles a sticky dough. 
4. Place the dough in the freezer for at least 20 minutes to set. 
5. Grease cookie sheets and use your fingers to shape the biscuits (the original recipe calls for using a round cutter; this dough was way too sticky for that). My biscuits were roughly 3" in diameter and about 2" tall. Some of my biscuits were smaller and burned because they baked faster, so be sure that you're consistent in your size. In the future I might try making the biscuits even a bit larger.
6. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. 

(I really need to start taking photos of my food before it's half-eaten!)