"The perfect biscuit dough just barely comes together," says Hugh Acheson. "After it's lightly rolled out, the biscuits puff up when you bake them." He tops these flavorful bacon-and-scallion ones with butter that's mixed with sorghum syrup, a traditional Southern sweetener. For people who don't eat meat, these biscuits are also delicious without the bacon.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound sliced bacon
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons sorghum syrup (see note) or pure maple syrup
- salt
Instruction
- Preheat the oven to 425°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat until crisp, about 7 minutes. Drain the bacon on paper towels and finely chop it.
- In a large bowl, whisk the 4 1/2 cups of flour with the baking powder, sugar, kosher salt and baking soda. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the butter until it is the size of small peas. Stir in the buttermilk, scallions and chopped bacon just until incorporated. Scrape the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead it gently just until it comes together.
- Using a floured rolling pin, roll the biscuit dough out to a 1/2-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch round biscuit cutter, stamp out 16 rounds of dough. Gently gather the scraps to form 2 or 3 more biscuits. Place the biscuits on the baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes, until they are well-risen and golden brown; turn the baking sheet once halfway through baking.
- In a small bowl, thoroughly blend the unsalted butter with the sorghum syrup and season with salt.
- Serve the bacon-scallion biscuits warm with the sorghum butter.
