Best-Ever Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe Martha Stewart

The Best Ever Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe Is by Martha Stewart

MARTHA STEWART'S MADE-FROM-SCRATCH BUTTERMILK BISCUITS RECIPE

One of the foods that I have fond memories of from growing up are biscuits, buttermilk biscuits. They were always buttery and moist and just plain delicious! More recently, I thoroughly enjoyed the freshly baked, homemade biscuits that were delivered to my mother-in-law's home after her funeral and left determined to learn how to make a great buttermilk biscuit.

Biscuits are comfort food to me and I love the possibilities that they deliver. They are (as I recently discovered) easy to make and you can have them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can have biscuits and gravy or a sausage or ham and egg biscuit. You can have them with fried chicken and mashed potatoes or with homemade corn chowder. Glaze them with milk and sugar and they make great strawberry shortcake.

On this page, learn how to make buttermilk biscuits as I did, from Martha Stewart, and you too could be eating biscuits every day. The recipe that Martha shared with me and that I'm sharing with you first appeared in a 2002 magazine and then in her 2002 Annual Recipes cookbook.

BAKING TIP

Biscuits require a gentle touch and there's no rolling pin required.

RECIPE

Cook Time
Prep Time: 5-10 Minutes
Total Time: 18 - 20 Minutes
Serves: About 12

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tsps baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup cold and unsalted butter
• 2 cups buttermilk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Measure the 4 cups of flour by spooning it into your measuring cup and levelling it with a knife.
3. Put the flour in a large bowl.
4. Whisk in the baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
5. Cut the butter into cubes and cut it into the flour until mixtures resembles coarse crumbs using a pastry blender or two knives. (Alternatively, as both Martha Stewart and I do, put part of the flour into a food processor, add the butter cubes and pulse a few times until crumbly. Then return the mixture to your bowl.)
6. Add the buttermilk and stir until the dough leaves the sides of bowl. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead gently a few times. Pat out into a circle that is about 1 and 3/4 inches thick. Cut with large biscuit cutter or a large glass, dipped in flour to help avoid sticking.
7. Place on pan. Biscuits can be touching.
8. Brush the tops with melted butter or milk.
9. Bake at 375 for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Let cool on a wire rack (or not, if you want to eat them right away.)

BAKING TIP

The closer together you place the biscuits on the pan, the softer they will be when they are done baking.

INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO

Martha's recipe and the instructions in this video really make it easy to make buttermilk biscuits, especially if you have never made them or never had success making them before. I highly recommend the video, which also does a nice job of explaining how you can use your food processor to simplify making biscuits.

BAKING TIP

Practice makes perfect. The more biscuits you make, handling the mixture gently, the better they'll be.

Have you every made buttermilk biscuits?

See you

in the kitchen!

Brenda

Culinary Favorites

MORE BISCUIT READING

You Are Making Your Biscuits Wrong By The New York Times

"The most important thing is to make biscuits a lot. A biscuit recipe, after all, is not so much a series of instructions as what martial artists call a kata - a form that rewards repetition with excellence. Kathleen Purvis, a top dog on the food des Have you ever made homemade buttermilk biscuits?

The Best-Ever Egg Salad Sandwich Recipe

EASY, DELICIOUS, NUTRITIOUS EGG SALAD SANDWICH FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY 

We've been eating this super delicious egg salad sandwich for almost twenty-five years. It is without question the best sandwich that we make and it is most definitely a family favorite.

The recipe makes enough egg salad for two or three sandwiches but I never make just one batch. Instead, I double or triple the recipe. I encourage you to do the same if you and your family love egg salad. It takes only a minute longer and you will have plenty of egg salad sandwiches to go around.

Our recipe is a bit lighter in calories and fat and a little lighter tasting than a traditional egg salad made with just mayonnaise. We actually prefer it this way and I am thrilled to serve a more nutritious egg salad sandwich recipe to my family and now to share it with you.

THE BEST-EVER EGG SALAD RECIPE

Ingredients for the Dressing:

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup plain lowfat or nonfat yogurt
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Ingredients for the Salad:

3 chopped hard-boiled eggs
2 tbsps chopped scallions
1/4 cup chopped tomato (optional)

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients.

Assemble the salad ingredients and add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the dressing. The remaining dressing can be used on the bread.

Makes 2 to 3 sandwiches.

You can add other cold foods to your egg salad. Consider lettuce, pickles, pickle relish, capers, cucumber, lentils, peas, beans, olives, peppers and even cottage cheese.

AN EGG SLICER

Makes Egg Salad EASY

AMAZON'S BEST EGG SLICER MAKES QUICK WORK OF CHOPPING EGGS FOR EGG SALAD.

An egg slicer certainly makes the job of chopping eggs fast and easy. This one is by Westmark and is, quite simply, Amazon's best egg slicer. Customers say things like, "After reading many reviews, in particular, Cook's Illustrated, I decide to go with this one. I'm pleased that I did" and "Very happy with my decision. It seems quite sturdy, and does a beautiful job."

Click here to order your Westmark Egg Slicer from Amazon.

More Egg Salad Recipes 

An endless variety of options:

Martha Stewart's Favorite Egg Salad Sandwich Recipe & Video
This simple egg salad sandwich is a healthy -- and delicious -- lunch choice.

Canadian Living's Egg Salad Sandwiches
This egg salad sandwich recipe is tops for being low in fat. Made with celery, light mayo and sour cream, it's a Tested Till Perfect egg salad that's sure to please!

Simply Recipes' Quick and Easy Egg Salad Sandwich Recipe
Classic egg salad sandwich, with chopped hard boiled eggs, green onion, celery, mayonnaise and a dash of curry powder, served on toasted bread.

What's Cooking America Egg Salad Sandwich Recipe
The egg salad sandwich has always been one of my very favorite sandwiches. I loved it as a child, and i still do as a grandma. So very easy to make.

See you
in the kitchen!
Brenda



Author's Note: Originally published elsewhere in 2010.

The Best Fondue Maker is By Cuisinart

Amazon's Best Fondue Maker

Amazon's best fondue maker is not an inexpensive one but it is a quality one and it is on sale today at more than 50 percent off, making the price pretty reasonable for the unit that ranks ahead of all others on Amazon. PLUS, of course, it qualifies for Amazon's FREE shipping.

AMAZON CUSTOMER REVIEW:

"If you like fondue, but find Sterno fuel a pain to use, not to mentioned potentially dangerous... you will love this fondue pot... Just plug it in, turn the knob to the setting you desire and put in the make fondue! Couldn't be easier!" ~ Eric Pruss

Is there a fondue pot in your future?

See you
in the kitchen!
Brenda

Quick Links:

Buy this Cuisinart fondue maker from Amazon.

Author's Note: This originally appeared as part of a post on another site.

Martha Stewart Lemon Cupcake Recipe

Martha Stewart's Mile-High Lemon Meringue Pie, Lemon Cupcakes and ME

The Lemon Cupcake recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook is absolutely amazing. On this page, you will find the lemon cupcake recipe and my story.

My story actually starts with Martha Stewart's Mile High Lemon Meringue Pie. I have made numerous unsuccessful attempts at creating it. However, the cupcakes are another story...a yummy story if not a pretty one.

The History Of My Mile-High Lemon Meringue Adventure

My Mile-High Lemon Meringue story is pretty simple and painfully funny. Many years ago, probably more than ten, I was intrigued by Martha Stewart's Mile High Lemon Meringue Pie recipe. The pie sounded great and the meringue amazing so I decided to give it a go. To try it. To undertake the most difficult recipe of my life.

Well, I don't know if it is the most difficult recipe of my life or not but I am calling it that because it failed. Not once. Not twice. But thrice. Yes, I was 'dumb' enough to try it more than twice.

The problem? Not the pastry although, if you've read my page A Tasty & Traditional Easter Dinner Menu, you know that I'm pie challenged. Not the lemon curd, it seemed to work out fine. Not the meringue, it whipped up very nicely, thank you very much. However, when the three were combined and put into the oven to brown, the curd turned to soup. Now it is a family legend, one we laugh out loud at whenever the subject of lemon meringue pie comes up although around here it is affectionately known as lemon meringue soup.

Years passed. I did not try making Martha Stewart's lemon meringue pie again although my reputation lived on. The really sad thing was that the pie, despite being in soup form, had still managed to taste really, really good, which made me want to have a slice of Martha Stewart's Mile High Lemon Meringue Pie even more!

Then came Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book. I picked a few recipes to try and, as I perused the pages, I stumbled across the Lemon Meringue Cupcake recipe.

What Would You Have Done?

I decided to go for it and give the recipe a try. Without further ado or to do, here, in three parts, is the recipe for Martha Stewart's Lemon Cupcakes...

Lemon Curd Recipe - (Makes 2 cups)

Ingredients:

8 large egg yolks
2 lemons, zested
1/2 cup lemon juice and 2 tbsps lemon juice (approximately 3 lemons)
1 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tbsps) cold unsalted butter which has been cut into pieces

Instructions:

In a small, heavy-bottomed pot, combine the egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar and whisk them together. Stir constantly until the mixture is thick, between 8 and 10 minutes and registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Remove pot and add salt and butter, one piece at a time. (The butter, not the salt!) Stirring until melted, each time. Strain the curd. Cover with plastic making sure that the plastic is pressed onto the surface of the curd which will keep a skin from forming. Refrigerate at least one hour or up to one day. Making this the day before would certainly spread the work out a bit.

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes Recipe

(Makes 24 cupcakes.)

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (all-purpose)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c (2 sticks or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
Grated zest of 3 lemons (3 tbsps)
2 tbsps lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together. Mix butter and sugar together at medium speed. Add eggs one at a time and wait until the egg is all mixed in before adding the next one. Add zest and vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches with two batches of buttermilk and lemon juice in between. Beat until just combined after each addition. Place batter in lined cups filling about three-quarters full. Bake until golden, cake tester comes out clean or about 25 minutes. Cool completely before removing from the muffin tins. These cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature or frozen for up to two months.

Seven Minute Frosting Masquerading as Lemon Meringue Recipe

(Makes a lot.)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsps sugar
2/3 cup water
2 tbsps light corn syrup
6 large egg whites at room temperature

Instructions:

Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar with the water and corn syrup in a small pot. Attach a candy thermometer to your pot. Boil over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Continue boiling but do not stir anymore. When syrup is 230 degrees, remove from heat. Meanwhile Whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. (I used my stand mixer's regular beaters as it does not have a whisk.) With mixer running, gradually add 2 tbsps sugar. When syrup reaches the required temperature, gradually add it to the mixing bowl with the mixer on a medium-low speed. Raise speed to medium high and whisk until cool. (The bottom of the bowl will be cool to touch.) Stiff peaks will form and it will take approximately 7 minutes.

Final Cupcake Assembly Instructions

Add 1 tablespoon of the lemon curd to the middle (top) of the cupcakes. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large open-star tip, pipe some frosting onto each cupcake. Using a small kitchen torch 3 to 4 inches away from the frosting, lightly brown the frosting.

Brown them with my kitchen blow torch? Uh oh, did someone say blow torch? This is where following the kitchen rule about reading the whole recipe before you start would have helped. I do not own a kitchen blow torch so here I was, at a difficult moment. What to do? It didn't seem like the cupcakes would be complete if I didn't brown them. Since I had two pans of cupcakes I thought I'll assemble one pan and put them under the broiler. If they're ruined, I will still have the second pan to work with.

It worked, sort of. Because of my expert decorating, the meringue on each cupcake was at a different height which meant that some were trying to burn while others were not brown yet so I had to monitor them closely. The result? Some brown spots, some white spots, as the pictures show.

There's no question that Martha's version of this cupcake is much prettier but mine still tasted fine.

Martha says, serve immediately but I'm sure there's no chance after all that work that you will wait before eating one!

Helpful Cupcake Baking Hints From Martha and Brenda

Brenda warns that lemons can be expensive so you might want to choose to make these cupcakes when lemons are on sale. The day I was shopping for lemons, they were two for $1.00 which was not too bad but I thought I needed 9 (you actually need 6). I was able to purchase bagged lemons with more than I needed at a lower cost.

Martha recommends cupcake liners; Brenda never bothers with them and did not have any difficulty removing the cupcakes from the pans. There are an endless choice of cupcake liners available from Amazon for any theme you might be working with.

Brenda says that it is critical that the butter be at room temperature, a little on the soft side. I have tried with cookies to use butter that isn't soft enough and it just does not work.

Martha says that one of the biggest problems with cupcakes is over mixing so be careful not to do that.

Brenda says that It is possible, albeit risky, to make these lemon cupcakes without a thermometer. I failed to follow the rule about reading the recipe through first and did not realize that I needed one. When the time came to make the lemon curd, I just cooked it for the longer time given and made sure that it fit the written description given in the recipe. When I was making the meringue, it was a bit more difficult. I used my meat thermometer which went to 212 degrees. However, the syrup needed to reach 230 degrees so I just cooked the syrup longer. Fortunately for me, both worked out fine. I'd recommend that you buy a thermometer to eliminate the guess work.

Brenda did not strain the curd and could see no issues with not having done so.

Brenda successfully used her stand mixer's regular beaters because she does not have a whisk attachment.

What Do You Think? 

What do you think? Should I have chosen to make lemon cupcakes? Should I have tried the pie again? Should I have abandoned the whole idea?  Fortunately, the cupcakes were delicious, if not beautiful. The lemon curd was amazing and the meringue frosting was delicious! Unfortunately, my now grown-up children do not remember them but they still remember the lemon meringue soup pie. 

My aim on this page was to share a delicious recipe with you and to have you smiling at my story and not puckering at the end of the page. I hope I have managed to achieve my goal whether or not you decide to make these cupcakes.

See you
in the kitchen!
Brenda

More Interesting Lemon Cupcake Recipes

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes Recipe From Food & Wine
Lemon Cupcakes From Martha Stewart 

Discover my new, used and vintage COOKBOOKS on eBay.

Author's Note: This page was originally written in 2009 and published on another website.

Pumpkin Spice M&M's

Pumpkin Spice M&M's. Hmmm. I've just discovered them online and I'm going to have to keep my eyes peeled for them or maybe even order some from Amazon...

Mars Inc. has decided to cash in on the pumpkin spice craze by creating spiced M&M candies in shades of orange, brown and green. The flavour and the color makes them perfect as a fall treat. 

Reportedly, they are slightly larger than regular M&Ms and shaped like the peanut version so it would seem you get a bit more chocolate for your money if you choose this version of the candy.

Huffpost Taste says that some preferred this flavour to the original flavour.

I'm wondering if I'll like them. I know I like the idea. If you have had the chance to sample Pumpkin Spice M&M's, be sure to share with the rest of us!  Share your opinion, that is, since I am pretty sure you won't want to share your M&Ms. Would you say yes or no if I passed a bag of these M and Ms to you?

And here's another thought. I wonder how they would be a cookie recipe..

Order some Pumpkin Spice M&Ms for yourself by clicking here to Amazon.

See you

in the kitchen!

Brenda

The Cuisinart Griddler

According to customers on Amazon, fans of grilling who want to grill indoors will not go wrong if they choose the Cuisinart Griddler.  Any kitchen item with more than 680 five-star reviews on Amazon is a top-rated product, at least in my opinion. 

Like many products, it is not 100 percent perfect and the Amazon customer reviews also give you an insight into any issues customers have with a product but, when the great reviews far outweigh the bad reviews, you can rest assured that you are getting a solid product. 

The Cuisinart Griddler wins top marks because it heats quickly and evenly, because it is very versatile functioning in several different ways and (most important to me, given the experience I have had with my Panini press) because it is EASY to clean.

Do you love your Griddler?

EDITED TO ADD:

This page was originally written in 2012 but I see that this product is still available on Amazon.

Read more about the Cuisinart Griddler GR-4N on Amazon.

See you
in the kitchen!
Brenda

The Best Fondue Pot

It's been a while since we've had a chocolate fondue but that's not because we don't love it. On this page we want to share two of the best chocolate fondue makers and a fondue cookbook that we have discovered.

The first fondue pot is the Cuisinart Chocolate Fondue Maker, which is Amazon's Best Fondue Maker.  The Amazon customer reviews voted this fondue pot to the top of the list and that is not surprising, given comments like, "Just plug it in, turn the knob to the setting you desire and put in the fondue" and "It heats evenly and quickly" and the nonstick surface means that "absolutely nothing sticks."  Nothing is perfect, but after reading the reviews, this is would be my choice of fondue pot. You can read all of the Amazon customer reviews for yourself by clicking right here.  Right now, Amazon has this fondue pot marked down by 58 percent and they will ship it to you for free.

We have to admit though that we love the Emile Henry Fondue maker, too.  It is another quality product, albeit a bit more expensive, perfect for a romantic or even a Christmas-time fondue.  Amazon customer Nicole  A. Stewart summed it up nicely when she said she hosted a fondue party using three types of fondue makers and that "the Emile Henry pot cooked the best, by far." You can check out the Emile Henry Fondue Maker reviews by clicking right here. 

Of course, if you are own a fondue pot, you will want a fabulous fondue cookbook.  Whether or not you are familiar with The Melting Pot fondue restaurants, you might want to try out  The Melting Pot  cookbook, Dip Into Something Different, which was the top-rated fondue cookbook a couple of years ago when we shared our chocolate fondue recipe online, and, apparently, still is.   You can read more about Dip Into Something Different by clicking right here.

Is there a fondue in your future?


See you in the kitchen!
Brenda


Quick Link:

Visit our chocolate fondue recipe page.

Love Christmas M&M Cookies But Can't Find Them (2011)

One of my family's favorite Christmas cookies is the M&M cookie made with Christmas colored M&Ms.

Would you believe I'm having a hard time finding them this year?  I passed on them once at a local retailer when I saw that they were more expensive than the regular M&Ms in part because I have always been able to find them on sale before Christmas but that was a mistake, and now I am Christmas M&M-less.

My family of cookie loving men is sure to be disappointed. Heck, I'm disappointed.

I live in Canada and cannot order them from Amazon so if you live in the U.S., consider yourself lucky, order your Christmas colored M&Ms now from Amazon by clicking right here.

See you

in the kitchen!

Brenda

Buy your Christmas M&Ms from Amazon.

Our Banana Bread Recipe Secrets

One of my family's favorite recipes is our banana bread recipe.  We always keep some 'spare' bananas in the freezer to be ready for the day when we want to make banana bread.

By 'spare' bananas, I mean overripe ones that don't get eaten up in time.  I simply peel them and throw them in a plastic bag or container and into the freezer.

That's Secret Number 1, by the way.  Never use fresh bananas. Always use overripe ones that have been frozen.  They won't be pretty but they will be full of flavour to help make your banana bread delicious.

Oh, and I see that I've already given you Secret Number 2, which is to freeze your bananas peeled. That makes using them so EASY. Just pull them out of the freezer and defrost and you are ready to go.

Secret Number 3 is the hardest secret. Never, ever eat your banana bread on the day you make it. Banana bread is one of those foods that is simply BETTER the next day.  We are pretty good with this rule because we know what a difference it makes in flavour.

Perhaps my family's favorite secret is Secret Number 4 -- make two.  If you only make one, well it is gone in the blink of an eye. If you make two, there's more for later.  I always try to freeze one for a rainy day...but it is not always that easy to get away with hiding one around my house.

By the way, if you are looking for more banana recipes, Go Bananas, the cookbook that I used to illustrate this page, has a near perfect five-star Amazon customer review and is deeply discounted. To check it out on Amazon, click here.

See you
in the kitchen!
Brenda

The Best-Ever Glazed Baked Ham

It's been a little while since we've had the best-ever glazed baked ham. Not because we could not eat it every day but rather because we consider ham to be a 'treat' type of food. After all, ham is not particularly lean.

So we save our baked hams for special occasions like New Years Day and Easter.  I notice now that my children are grown, I receive requests for baked ham on birthdays and the other occasion that we love to serve a baked ham is in the summertime, cooked in advance with a side of potato salad. Ordinarily, we eat our baked ham with a scalloped potato and we use the ham to wipe up every morsel of the sauce from the potatoes.

It is hard to believe that Halloween is gone and it is now time to turn our thoughts to Christmas but it is. I will be watching the local grocery store flyers for a sale on smoked pork picnic bone shoulder ham and then I will tuck it away and anticipate the arrival of New Year's Day...

Brenda