WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS Fresh, piney rosemary and Parmesan cheese make these savory biscuits perfect to accompany simply prepared meats, stews, or soups. We wanted a biscuit that could be easily broken apart and enjoyed piece by buttery piece; too many drop biscuits are dense, gummy, and doughy, or else too lean and dry. While oil-based biscuits are easy to work with, they lack flavor, so butter was a must. Using buttermilk instead of milk gave the biscuits a rich tang and made them crisper on the exterior and fluffier on the interior. For the leavening, we needed a substantial amount, but too much baking powder left a metallic aftertaste. Replacing some of the baking powder with baking soda gave the biscuits the rise they needed without that metallic bitterness. Then we were left with only one problem: Properly combining the butter and buttermilk required that both ingredients be at just the right temperature; if they weren’t, the melted butter clumped in the buttermilk. Since we wanted this to be an easy recipe, we tried making a batch with the lumpy buttermilk. The result was a surprisingly better biscuit, slightly higher and with better texture. The water in the lumps of butter turned to steam in the oven, helping create the additional height.
Makes: 12 biscuits
Total time: 35 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1½ ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (¾ cup)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1 cup buttermilk, chilled
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk flour, Parmesan, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and rosemary together in large bowl. In separate bowl, stir chilled buttermilk and 8 tablespoons melted butter together until butter forms small clumps. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until just incorporated and
dough pulls away from sides of bowl. - Using greased ¼-cup measure, scoop out scant ¼ cup dough and drop onto prepared sheet, spacing dough mounds about 1½ inches apart (you should have 12 mounds). Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking.
- Brush baked biscuits with remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter, transfer to wire rack, and let cool slightly before serving
VARIATION:
CHEDDAR AND SCALLION DROP BISCUITS:
- Substitute ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese for Parmesan and 2 thinly sliced scallions for rosemary.
