It’s Friday.  I know you weren’t expecting this, but it’s time for a Pop Quiz.  

Don’t worry.  If you’ve done the reading this should be easy… (I hated when teachers would say that to me). 

Pop Quiz

1) True or False:  The joining of chocolate and coffee is like a cosmic combination of all that is good, just, and rock and roll in the universe. 

2) Fill in the Blank:  Breakfast is the most _________________ . 

3)  Multiple Choice:  The best choice for this weekend’s breakfast treat is:

a) stale Cheerios.  

b) Gerard Butler and hot fudge sauce. 

c) breakfast sandwiches made on Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits.  

Now… here are the answers: 

1)  True….. duh!  2) Breakfast is the most important meal that ever was.  3) c… if and only if b is unavailable.  

Perfect score?  We’re best friends.  Take note. 

Breakfast.  Be still my heart.  I love you breakfast.  

The combination of cheddar with buttery biscuits is divine.  Add a little kick of black pepper and holy yum!  These biscuits are made with both all-purpose and whole wheat flour.  I like the nuttiness of whole wheat flour.  Now you know.  The combination results in a dense but buttery and delicious biscuit.  They’re the perfect holder of turkey bacon and a fried egg.  Make a sandwich.  Dooooo it!

Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits

     makes 10 to 12 biscuits

     Print this Recipe!

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour (use all-purpose if you don’t have whole wheat)

2 Tablespoons sugar

4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening, cold and cut into cubes

1/4 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup buttermilk, cold

3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

a touch of heavy cream and black pepper for topping the biscuits before baking

In a mixing bowl, sift together flours, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt.  Cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add the cheddar and black pepper and toss to combine.  In another bowl, combine egg and milk and beat lightly with a fork.  Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring enough to make a soft dough.

Turn out onto a floured board and knead about 15 times.  Roll or pat out into a 1-inch thickness.  Cut into 2-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter or cut into 2×2-inch squares.  Reshape and roll dough to create more biscuits with excess scraps.  Brush tops with a bit of heavy cream and a sprinkle of fresh ground black pepper.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.  Serve immediately with softened butter or top with bacon and a fried egg as breakfast sandwiches.

On losing, letting go of little sisters, and warm biscuits:

We never talked about this.  I didn’t know how to bring it up.  The 2009 Bloggies.  Remember?  Best New Blog?  So… I sorta…. kinda…. mostly… didn’t win.  The thing is, I really really wanted to win.  I did.  I played it cool though.  On the outside, I pretended to not care either way.  That was a big fat lie.  But the thing about losing… it’s pretty cool actually… it makes me want to be better.  It also makes me unbelievably grateful for all of your smiling faces.  Fact.

I found myself in a frenzy this morning.  My little sister left for a many month long European adventure.  The thought of her being so far away that I can’t easily call her at two in the morning to scream our favorite Mariah Carey song at her sent me into panic mode.  I calmed myself, safe in the knowledge that my sister deserved some life changing adventures and I am due many presents from far away lands upon her return.

Biscuits.  If I were to hand you a warm biscuit with raspberry jam would you: a)  throw it on the ground and shove me on the floor or b) thank me kindly, gobble the biscuit and give me a giant hug?  If your answer involved shoving me on the floor… well, that’s kinda funny, but throwning biscuits on the floor is just plain rude.  Don’t do it.

These Buttermilk Buiscuits… well, they must be blessed by the heavens.  I don’t think there’s any other way to explain just how good they are.  They’re best right out of the oven, steaming hot, doused with butter and jam.

My dad has been making this recipe for Buttermilk Biscuits for our family for, exactly, ever.  Incedentially, my sister has been swiping them of the table for as long as I can remember.  They’re simple family goodness.

Dad’s Buttermilk Biscuits

Print this recipe!

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening, cold and cut into cubes

1/4 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup buttermilk, cold

In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt.  Cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.  In another bowl, combine egg and milk and beat lightly with a fork.  Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring enough to make a soft dough.

Turn out onto a floured board and knead about 15 times.  Roll or pat out into a 1-inch thickness.  Cut into 2-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter or cut into 2×2-inch squares.  Reshape and roll dough to create more biscuits with excess scraps.    Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Here are a few Monday confessions I feel compelled to get off my chest:

I’ve given up working out for the new year.  I don’t wanna do.  I’m liable to throw a tantrum about it.

I just bought a vacuum, and I’m too embarrassed to tell you how long I went without one.

I’m secretly seriously competitive. Did you hear? Did you vote?

I don’t use parchment paper when I’m supposed to.  At all. I don’t have any good reason for not using it, just a serious mental block.

I don’t like to buy myself fancy kitchen equipment.  I’d rather buy shoes.  Crazy, right?

I made these Giant Paprika Cheddar Biscuits last week around ten in the morning.  By two in the afternoon I had worked my way through a cool four of them.

Again… I’ve given up working out for the new year, which I obviously must feel bad about because here I am mentioning it again.  Unfortunately I don’t feel bad enough to lace up my running shoes…   sigh… moving on!

About the biscuits:  super easy, delicately spiced with sweet paprika from Spain (thank you Rachel!) and dotted with melted cheddar.  I measured out each biscuit with a half cup scoop and they were absolutely GIANT!  Next time I might try a 1/4-cup of 1/3-cup measuring scoop to dollop out the batter for more reasonable biscuits.

These pretties would be just lovely for breakfast with a fried egg and sliced tomato, or with an equally giant pot of Turkey Chili.  You could always just go the Joy the Baker route and plow through four biscuits while standing in your kitchen reading the newest issue of Bon Appetit magazine.  You’ve got options, just make these biscuits part of your plan.

Paprika Cheddar Drop Biscuits

adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

Print this recipe!

makes 8 giant biscuits or 12 smaller biscuits

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika, plus more for dusting

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

6 ounces cheddar, finely grated (about 1 cup)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream ( I used 1 cup whole milk and 1/2 cup sour cream)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.  I just greased and floured my baking pan, skipping the paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and paprika.  Using a pastry blender, or your fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles course meal with a few larger clumps remaining.  Stir in the cheese with a fork.

Add the cream (or milk and sour cream); using a rubber spatula, stir until the dough just comes together.  The dough will be slightly sticky;  don’t over mix.  Using a 1/2-cup measure (for giant biscuits) or a 1/4-cup or 1/3-cup for smaller biscuits, scoop mounds of dough about 1 1/2-inches apart of the prepared baking sheet.  Lightly dust with paprika.

Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through baking, until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.  Slide parchment and biscuits onto a wire rack to cool or let biscuits cool on pan for 5 minutes before removing onto a wire rack with a spatula.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

These Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits take me back home.  I come from a biscuit loving family.  We take our biscuits rather seriously.  My Dad makes what he calls Mile High Biscuits.  They’re light and buttery, a beautiful golden color, and we always ate them hot with dinner.  We were generally a happy family of 4 sitting around the dinner table, sharing a meal, laughing, and talking about our days.  Biscuit night was always a different story. On biscuit nights, there was, without a doubt, scandal and conflict.

Why?  Well Dad always made a recipe of 12 biscuits.  Now let’s do the math- 12 biscuits for 4 people, that’s 3 each.  The problem is, no one never ended up with three biscuits.  Three words- my little sister.  My sister, the biscuit strategist, would cunningly place the biscuit basket at her side of the table, and with great stealth, gather about 8 biscuits for herself over the course of dinner.  I must admit, the girl is clever.  And with her darling smile and endless charm, she always got away with the lion’s share of biscuits. Always!  I’d stomp my feet, outraged, pleading “But Mom…!  It’s not fair!”  Mom would calmly reply “Joy, who said life was fair?  Now eat your broccoli before it gets cold.”At that point, defeated, I usually just ate my one biscuit slowly, while trying to shoot my sister down with the evil eye.  Mom was right though- life isn’t always fair, sometimes your sister just gets more biscuits than you, and steamed broccoli once it’s cold, is just wretched.

As always, my Tuesdays are dedicated to Dorie Greenspan, and the Tuesdays with Dorie ladies.  This basic biscuit recipe is dressed up with brown sugar, toasted pecans and sour cream.  The biscuit is slightly sweeter than a traditional biscuit, and the toasted pecans add a delicious crunch.  They will certainly satisfy any biscuit craving.  This recipe yielded about 14 biscuits.  I ate every single one with strawberry preserves.  And that’s fair.

Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits

Print this recipe!

Dorie Greenspan

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar

5 Tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 10 peices

1/2 cup cold sour cream

1/4 cup cold whole milk

1/3 cup finely chopped pecans, preferably toasted.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Get out a sharp 2-inch diameter biscuit cuter, and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a bowl.  Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps.  Drop in the butter, and using your fingers, toss and coat the pieces of butter with the flour.  Quickly, working with your fingertips (my favorite method) or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly.  You’ll have pea sized pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes, and pieces the size of everything in between- and that’s just right.

Stir the sour cream and milk together and pour over the dry ingredients.  Grab a fork and gently toss and turn the ingredients together until you’ve got a nice soft dough.  Now reach into the bowl with your hands and give the dough a quick gently kneading- 3 or 4 turns should be enough to bring everything together.  Toss in the pecans and knead another 2 or 3 times to incorporate them.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough.  Dust the top of the dough very lightly with flour and pat the dough out with your hands or roll it with a pin until it is about 1/2 inch high.  Don’t worry if the dough isn’t ocmpletely even- a quick light touch is more important that accuracy.

Use the biscuit cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can.  Try to cut the biscuits close to one another so you get the most out of the first round.  By hand, or with a small spatula,  transfer the biscuits to a baking sheet.  Gather together the scraps, woring them as little as possible, pat out to a 1/2 inch thickness and cut as many additional biscuits as you can; transfer to baking sheet. (The biscuits can be made at this point and frozen on the baking sheed, then wrapped airtight and kept in the freezer for up to 2 months.  Bake without defrosting, just add a couple more minutes to the oven time.)

Bake the biscuits for 14-18 minutes, or until they are tall, puffed and golden brown.  Transfer them to a serving basket, and serve immediately.

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