If you haven’t had chef Shanita McAfee’s piping-hot buttermilk biscuits, well, you’re not living your best life. To celebrate the holiest of days in the South—National Buttermilk Biscuit Day—we begged McAfee for her tried-and-true homemade recipe. She graciously obliged. “I’m the kind of girl who would do just about anything for a hot buttered biscuit!” she says. (We’ve met her. It’s the truth.)
Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits (with Blueberry Jam)
Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup cold butter (two sticks)
2 cups cold buttermilk
Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl whisk together all dry ingredients.
2. Using your fingers, cut in butter until the mix resembles large pieces of wet sand. (Chef note: “I don’t like to incorporate the butter completely. It’s okay to have small lumps of butter.)
3. Create a well in the center of the bowl and add the buttermilk. Using your hand as a spatula, combine until all the flour is just mixed. (Chef note: “Yes, it will be a lumpy batter. Resist the urge to over knead the dough.”)
4. Place on a floured surface, pressing with hands to the desired thickness and cut into your preferred shape, e.g. a square.
5. Place in a buttered baking pan and bake for 10 to 15 mins at 350 degrees until golden brown.
McAfee adds: “I like to brush the top with butter prior to baking. And for a savory biscuit, fresh herbs and cheese may be added to the dry ingredients.”
Quick Blueberry Jam
Ingredients:
2 pints fresh blueberries
1 1/2 cups of sugar (adjust depending on the sweetness of the blueberries)
Zest and juice of one lemon
1/2 cup water
Directions:
In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and simmer on low until it thickens. Slather on biscuits liberally. And enjoy.