simple. yum.

We've been experiencing a drought of bread in the house lately. There's no good excuse as we have a great local bakery, Pane d' Amore, for all of our glutenous needs. That said, the other night, we found nothing breadtastic in sight as Justin was putting together a fantastic nettle soup. My soup experience is not complete without a hunk of something to dip in it. Crackers, tortilla chips...they just will not do.

Our quick fix: biscuits! I found a recipe in Jennifer Reese's Make The Bread, Buy the Butter--an already tattered and food-splattered Christmas gift from my dad. The ingredients are simple, the process quick, and most importantly, you get those amazing pull-apart layers! I've made a lot of biscuits that taste fine but don't have that beautiful layered quality--aren't the layers integral? When I pulled them out of the oven, I exclaimed no fewer than six times, "Look at THESE layers!!!" It's the little things.

They were a great sidekick to Justin's nettle soup. Just remember, they are so much better warm and right out of the oven.

Biscuits

adapted from Jennifer Reese's Make the Bread, Buy the Butter

1 TBS. cream of tartar

1.5 tsp baking soda

3 c. sifted all-purpose flour

2 c. whole wheat flour

10 TBS. cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2. c cold buttermilk (I used almond milk with 2 TBS. cider vinegar)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Sift all dry ingredients together. Then, add the butter by tossing the mixture with your fingers and then rubbing the mixture between your fingers until the mix is evenly clumpy. 

3. Add the buttermilk and stir until the dough is uniformly sticky. 

4. Turn the dough on a floured surface and form it into a ball. Then, flatten and roll the dough until it is 3/4 in. thick. 

5. Cut the dough into rounds using a widemouthed mason jar and place 1 in. apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

6. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy them while they're hottt!