You guys… Saturday is National Biscuit Day! If ever there was a food holiday to get excited about (I mean, other than Thanksgiving) THIS IS IT! Perhaps its those southern roots in us, but our family loooooooves some biscuits. I mean, seriously. Case in point: I remember one time my sister and I were on an early morning flight with some friends headed to the beach. If there is any silver lining to a redeye, it’s those beautiful, buttery first class biscuits. Their smell just wafts through the whole plane inciting envy and covetousness in every passenger beyond the 5th row, and sheer joy and excitement in everyone else.
Well, on this particular trip, poor Dannie was a little under the weather. She snuggled into her first class seat and almost immediately fell asleep. Since her sense of smell wasn’t 100%, she was not awakened by the scent of buttery goodness. The courteous flight attendant let her sleep, and Dannie woke up upon landing LIVID that she had missed her biscuit. We now know to always wake her up when there are biscuits to be had.
Side note: did you know there’s an entire franchise dedicated to biscuits?!!? Yes. Believe it. Biscuitville is a REAL THING! It actually became a joke in our family because, on all of our many drives between DC and Atlanta, we NEVER made it to Biscuitville when they were open. Until finally, we did. It was 5am in God knows where North Carolina, and we sat in the parking lot until 5:30am waiting for them to open. And boy was it worth it! So buttery. So flaky. So delicious! Unfortunately Dannie wasn’t with us on that leg of the trip… But we surely FaceTime’d her from Biscuitville at 5am. And brought her a a chicken biscuit as a consolation prize. 😉
Anyway, all that to say, we love ourselves some biscuits. And so in anticipation of this great holiday, we have a new recipe for you! Now, given that it’s beach season, we can’t just be eating trays of biscuits all haphazardly. Plus, let’s not forget I happen to be married to a personal trainer! Carb-addicted as he may be, he burns it off way easier than I do, so we have to account for these things. So we made these gluten free!
Sounds crazy, I know. But trust me, they’re good. Typically I have a problem with gluten free things. Since I do it just to experiment, not out of any dietary necessity, I tend to prefer, the soft, tender texture wheat flour gives to baked goods. Furthermore, taking what seems like hours to convert recipe proportions to accommodate GF flour is so not what I’m about. Well, I’m here to tell you that this Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour is the TRUTH! It lets me keep my tried and true recipes (mostly) the same and actually doesn’t mess up the texture of the final product. Definitely recommend it for an easy swap!
I created this recipe based on the delicious lavender sage buttermilk biscuits I made awhile back, just with a different flavor profile. Since we’re still knee-deep in cilantro after Cinco de Mayo, I figured why not throw it in a biscuit?! These cilantro chili biscuits are absolutely delicious. They are the perfect foundation for a chorizo and egg breakfast sandwich, and would undoubtedly be a lovely complement to a nice bowl of chili. Really, you’ve got to try them!
- 3 cups Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons hot Mexican chili powder
- 3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
- 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
- 1¼ cups buttermilk
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (Or if you're out of parchment-like me-just use an ungreased baking sheet)
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, chili powder and cilantro in large bowl.
- Cut the butter into small cubes and then use a pastry blender (or two knives) to cut the butter into the flour mixture. Keep working in the butter until you get course, pea-size crumbles. (If using your hands, work quickly so the heat from your hands doesn't warm the butter too much.)
- Add the buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon until big craggy clumps of dough begin to form.You may need to use your hands to knead the dough a few times until it all holds together.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat (don't roll!) it out until it's about a half-inch thick. Cut your biscuits using a 2" or 3" biscuit cutter, and place them on the baking sheet, about an inch or so apart.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown and fluffy.
You can add more sugar if you like sweeter biscuits, or change up the flavors according to your family's liking.