Buttermilk Baking Powder Biscuits and this week's BSI ingredient!

This week, I was asked by Marisa from Loser for Life to host a wonderful contest called BSI...which stands for "Blogger Secret Ingredient"  It's a fun way to get some new recipe ideas and visit a few new blogs.  I have participated in the past, with Spicy Buffalo Chicken Meatballs and Vanilla BeanYogurt Cake,  but I have never hosted before. So I put my thinking cap on and decided this week's secret ingredient would be...

BUTTERMILK!

I have been finding all sorts of uses for buttermilk these days.  It's low in fat, tangy and does something extraordinary to any baked good it happens to touch.  I have used it to make mashed potatoes,  scones, quick breads and even a sauce for chicken cordon bleu!  It has actually become a staple in my weekly grocery cart!  So I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

It's so EASY to participate in the BSI contest!   Just send your entry ( link to your post, any previous post, or your recipe- you do not have to have a food blog or a blog or a picture to go with it-that uses buttermilk) to mykitchenadventures(at)yahoo.com by Sunday, March 20th 12pm EST.

Be sure to add a link back here on your entry post.  That's it!  A winner will be chosen by me and a gift will be sent out to the winner!  ( gift yet to be determined...but I will have something put together by the end of the week) Because the BSI previous host and ingredient list is 107 hosts long, I am not going to post the list here but for a list of previous BSI hosts and ingredients and for a complete list of rules visit MyBizzyKitchen-BSI rules!  Make sure to visit and check out all the great links and recipes for the variety of ingredients over the past 107 weeks!!! 

This is a really FUN way to increase exposure to your blog or just share a great recipe!  If you are interested in being next week's host, just drop me an email at mykitchenadventures(at)yahoo.com and let me know you would like to be next week's host and your blog and it's link can join the list of blog hosts in the BSI Hall of Fame!  :) 

And now....onto my entry for this week!  Buttermilk Baking Powder Biscuits

For many years now, I have been trying to perfect making baking powder biscuits from scratch.  I have tried many recipes through the years, but not until I made these, was I satisfied with the results.  Usually, I had problems with the biscuits turning out too hard or too heavy or too dry.  And then I stumbled upon this recipe, in a cookbook I have owned for YEARS!  Why had I not made this recipe before?

These biscuits are everything you want in a biscuit and the absolute BEST part is you can cut out the dough , freeze it and when you want fresh, soft, flaky biscuits you just pull out what you want and bake them from frozen in 15 -18 min!  I actually think they have an even better texture when you bake them once they have been frozen and I am guessing it has to do with the butter being frozen when they go into the oven.

This recipe makes a HUGE amount of biscuits (35 - 40 biscuits)... you can cut the recipe in half if you like.  I make the whole recipe and freeze the extra.  The original recipe called for lard, but I substituted solid vegetable shortening with fine results.  Don't overwork the dough...that, along with the addition of buttermilk,  are the secrets to a great biscuit.

Heaven! 

Buttermilk Baking Powder Biscuits adapted from Cooking from Quilt Country by Marcia Adams

Servings - approx. 35   Serving size - 1 biscuit   PP per svg - 5 points+

Calories - 186.4,   Total Fat - 11.1g,   Carb. - 18.5g,   Protein - 2.8g,   Fiber - 0.6g

6 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder

1/4 cup baking powder

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 cup solid vegetable shortening sticks ( such as Crisco sticks) cut into pieces

1 cup COLD, unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.    In a very large bowl, combine the flour, dry milk powder, baking powder, sugar, salt and cream of tartar.  Add the pieces of shortening and butter.  With a pastry blender or two forks, cut in the shortening/butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Don't work it too much.  It is ok to see pieces of the shortening/butter throughout...it is actually better to see pieces, as this is what gives the biscuits their flakiness.  

2. Make a well in the center of the mixture, and pour in the buttermilk.  With a fork, quickly and lightly combine the ingredients.  If the flour isn't fully incorporated at this point, you can knead the dough gently with your hands for a few seconds...but again...don't worry about working it too much.  

3.  I don't like to work with a lot of dough at one time, so I take about 1/4th of the dough out of the bowl and put on a lightly floured surface and then press it flat with my hand to about 3/4 inch thickness.  You can use a rolling pin if you like.  Using a 2 1/2" round cutter, cut out biscuits and place on a parchment lined baking sheet about 2 " apart . ( if you are freezing some, put them on another parchment lined baking sheet to flash freeze before putting into a zipper freezer bag to store)

4.  Bake for 13 -15 minutes or until golden brown.  Brush the tops with melted butter if you wish once they come out of the oven. ( may affect points+ values)  

5.  For freezing:  place the cut out biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet and put into freezer until they are hard.  Transfer them to a freezer bag for storage.  Write the baking instructions on the bag along with the pp values.  To bake from frozen:  remove desired amount of frozen biscuits from bag and place approx. 2 " apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 -18 minutes, or until golden brown.  

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Frozen and ready for the freezer bag

I really hope that you will consider joining the BSI this week!  Remember, any previously posted recipes are fine to submit!! 

These biscuits are great plain with butter or jam or drizzled with honey...but they also make wonderful mini strawberry shortcakes and I am working on a low fat version of sausage gravy, which would also be excellent on them!  I love a good light and flaky biscuit.  I am really fond of the ones you get at Cracker Barrel, which as far as I am concerned, are the tops in biscuits.  My family says these come pretty close to those.  Are you a biscuit fan?  What do you like to eat on your biscuits?