Saturday Morning Biscuits

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as biting into the perfect, flaky biscuit. Whether with a spread of butter and your favorite fruit preserves, a drizzle of local honey and a sprinkle of flaky salt, or with some bacon or sausage and a beautifully fried egg sandwiched in-between the layers.

The weekly grind Monday – Friday can be difficult at times. And while breakfast is important, typically we are forced to make use of quick options: a banana or piece of fruit, instant oats, a bowl of cereal, or a quick plate of toast and a fried egg can be made in about 6 minutes. But there’s something luxurious about being able to take the time to treat you and your family to fresh, made-from-scratch biscuits. And you’d probably never have guessed – they’re quite easy to make! Not necessarily breakfast-on-the-go quick, but definitely worth the journey when you have the time to spare. 

For me, that day is Saturday. The schedule slows down on Saturdays. We’re in our PJ’s longer than I care to admit publicly. There’s lots of Sesame Street playing for the kids. And an extra cup of coffee (or two) for me and Kalyn. We take it slow (when we can) on Saturdays, and once everyone is awake and settled and happy, I usually get to work making a late breakfast for us all. Sometimes it’s just kale and eggs, sometimes pancakes and bacon, and sometimes I make my favorite –  Saturday Morning Biscuits. Often, Levi comes running in the kitchen half way through shouting “EAT DADA, EAT!” And for that I usually have a scrambled egg at the ready to sit in front of him while the important art of biscuit making continues. I encourage you to find your time to slow down. Enjoy the process of making something from scratch. Feel the dough between your fingers. It will make the biscuit that much more satisfying in the end. 

2 ¾ Cups AP Flour, plus ¼ cup more separated for dusting

2 tsp Baking powder

½ tsp Baking Soda

1 ¼ tsp Sugar

2 ½ tsp Kosher Salt

1 ½ Cup Sour Cream

12 TBS Salted Butter (Divided) 

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Melt 2 TBS of butter by whatever way is easiest for you. Set Aside.

Cut 10 TBS of butter into small cubes, and refrigerate to keep cold. Measure out sour cream and refrigerate to keep cold. 

Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add Cubed butter and toss in the dry ingredients to coat. Using your hands, quickly as to not soften the butter, squeeze and pinch the flour and butter together incorporating it all until it is about pea size gravel.

Create a well in your flour and butter mixture. Put your cold sour cream in the well. Using a fork, incorporate well until a rough dough is formed. Squeeze the dough together to form a ball. 

Using some of your remaining ¼ cup of flour, dust your counter top or large cutting board. Turn out your dough onto the flour. Sprinkle some of the remaining flour over your dough. Kneed and roll the dough, incorporating the flour until dough is less sticky.  Using hands, form dough into a rectangle, approximately 8” wide by 4” deep. Using a bench scraper or spatula, turn up the left side of the dough brick and fold into the middle. Repeat with the right edge of  your dough brick, until you have “tri-folded” it. Press down to re-incorporate. Re-form into your brick, and repeat the tri-fold process one more time.  (This process is called Lamination, and is creating lots of layers of cold butter in  your dough, which will result in a flaky biscuit.)

Reform into your 8” by 4” brick. Using a knife or bench scraper, cut your dough in half down the middle left to right. Then cut your Biscuits, starting in the middle of each strip, cutting in half, and then in half again until you have 2 rows of 4 biscuits.

Transfer to parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush top of biscuits with melted butter.

Bake for 12-17 minutes (rotating baking pan once half-way through) until golden brown and done inside. Brush with any remaining melted butter and serve!

Don’t let the name fool you. These biscuits can be enjoyed any day of the week. They can even make a Monday feel like a Saturday. During the mixing process, before you add your sour cream, consider these fun biscuit add-ins.

- ½ teaspoon black pepper, and 1 cup of chopped green onions

- ½ cup of shredded cheddar, and 1 cup of crumbled crispy bacon