Mixed Berry Biscuits |Cooking With Amanda

For the longest EVER I could not make a biscuit to save my life. I mean, like even my Bisquick biscuits were crap. Hard little lumps of too much flour and not enough rise, or clumps of butter that weren't distributed, yielding a bite of butter followed by a bite of dry bready clump.

It was a sad situation.

But somewhere along the way I started making scones, which are basically just biscuits, AND THEN like magic my biscuits got better. Perfectly light and fluffy, butter in all the right spots, and not a heavy rock of flour to be found.

My secret is not fancy flour or lard (like my boyfriend's very southern grandma swears by); it's not even the buttermilk that I usually love so much for its rich tang.

The trick to good biscuits or scones is coldcoldcold butter and a box grater. Like the one you use for cheese. I swear by it.

The box grater shaves the cold butter down into these perfect little pearls that combine with the flour to make coarse flour-covered crumbles that are uniform throughout. No more dry brick-like pockets of unbuttery flour. No more lame biscuits. And it doesn't require one single fancy thing on your part.

I use this same method in my jalapeño cheddar buttermilk biscuits and my favorite little spring onion scones. It works wonders with these cranberry orange scones and should definitely be used with these fluffy buttermilk biscuits. Two forks or a pastry cutter --- step aside. The box grater method is here to stay.

It makes these Mixed Berry Biscuits the perfect combination of buttery and fluffy.

I also did something a little bit crazy with this recipe: I swapped buttermilk for evaporated milk. You know the stuff you only ever use for pumpkin pie? Yep. That. It's awesome! I really like the slight sweetness. It works really well with all the fresh berries.

Butter. Berries. Biscuits. That is breakfast love.

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Mixed Berry Biscuits Recipe

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Ingredients

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the work surface
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, very cold
1/2 cup evaporated milk, plus more for brushing the tops of the biscuits
3/4 cup fresh mixed berries, like blueberries and sliced strawberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease well (the cooked berries tend to stick to the baking surface).
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Use a box grater to cut the butter into the flour and then work the butter and flour together with your fingers until you have uniform coarse crumbs, none larger than a pea.
Using a rubber spatula, gently stir in the evaporated milk until the dough is evenly damp. Fold in the berries and then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
Working with floured hands to prevent sticking, pat the dough out to about ½ - ¾" thick. Use a small biscuit cutter (about 2") OR a floured juice glass to cut out the biscuits.
Place them about an inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.
Brush the tops with a little evaporated milk and then bake for 15 minutes. The tops will be golden brown.
These are best served warm but I still love them cold the next day.