Buttermilk is one of my favorite ingredients.  It’s one of these unassuming ingredients that makes a huge contribution to recipes from cakes to panna cotta to pancakes to biscuits.  Traditional buttermilk is the leftover liquid from churning butter or from fermented cream.  Commercial buttermilk is pasteurized and homogenized milk that has been inoculated with a culture of Lactococcus lactis plus Leuconostoc citrovorum to simulate the naturally occurring bacteria in the traditional product. Acidified buttermilk is a related product made by adding lemon juice or vinegar to milk at a ratio of 1 tablespoon : 1 cup.  This is a very poor substitute for real buttermilk and I recommend against using it unless you have no other option.

This biscuit recipe is embarrassingly easy to make and yields a wonderful biscuit – a crisp, slightly chewy crust on top and a wonderfully tender, crumbly and moist center with a delicious buttery flavor.  It is the perfect accompaniment to almost everything and works equally well with a thick layer of Kerrygold Irish butter at supper as it does slathered in homemade sausage gravy at breakfast or with butter and organic honey with tea.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup salted butter, melted
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 1 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF degrees.
2. Put melted butter into an 8×8 baking dish.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
4. Add buttermilk and mix to form a sticky, thick, loose dough.
5. Spread biscuit dough into baking dish on top of the melted butter.
6. Bake for about 20-22 minutes. Biscuits are done when they are golden brown on top and have a slight crust.