I’ve taken my classic recipe for buttermilk biscuits and given it a twist by way of black pepper and cultured butter. They’re the same flakey, buttery biscuits that you love except with a little kick from the black pepper and a bit more flavor from the cultured butter.
What is cultured butter?
First things first, I’m sure you’re wondering what “cultured butter” refers to. No, it isn’t butter that likes to go to gallery openings and spend afternoons at the museum. Here, “cultured” refers to active bacteria that has been added to the cream in the manufacturing process, similar to yogurt. It is then left to ferment for a little while before getting churned into butter.
What does cultured butter taste like?
The cultures give the butter a nice tang (again, similar to yogurt). To me, it also tastes a little bit like a mild cheese. Cultured butter is common in Europe, but can be found more and more easily in America these days. Like regular butter, it comes salted or unsalted, and some brands have a higher butterfat content than others. I think it’s great for baking or just spreading on a piece of bread, but I’d stick to regular butter for all of your cooking needs.
As you can see, these biscuits aren’t quite “perfect,” but biscuits aren’t really meant to be. They’re a quick bread, which means that you can throw them together in a few minutes and have delicious bread on the table in no time.
I scaled this recipe down to only produce half a dozen biscuits, since I’m often only cooking for myself, but feel free to double it if you’re cooking for a crowd (or just really like biscuits). A couple of tricks I’ve learned since I last wrote about biscuits are:
- Try to only go up and down when cutting the biscuits into shapes. Sliding your knife or twisting a biscuit cutter will seal the edges and prevent you from seeing the beautiful layers you just created.
- Giving the biscuits some room to bake provides for more surface area and allows them to get crispier all around.
- Popping the biscuits in the freezer for about 15 minutes or so while the oven heats up helps to create a fluffier biscuit.
Black Pepper Cultured Butter Biscuits Recipe
Classic buttermilk biscuits get a twist by way of black pepper and cultured butter in this recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 ounces cold unsalted cultured butter, cubed
- 3/4 cup cold buttermilk
Instructions
- Add the flour, baking powder, black pepper, salt, and baking soda to a bowl and give it a mix. (Your fingers will do.)
- Add the cubed butter to the flour mixture and cut with a pastry blender until the largest pieces of butter are no larger than a pea. (You can also just a food processor or your fingers for this step. If using your fingers, be sure to work quickly so your hands don't melt the butter.)
- Pour in the buttermilk and stir until the dough starts to come together. There will still be lots of dry bits, but don’t panic! Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a rough rectangle. Roll it out and fold it over on itself a couple of times. Form into a 4-by-6-inch rectangle about 3/4- to 1-inch thick and cut into 2-inch square biscuits (or whatever shape you want).
- Line a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; place the biscuits on the baking sheet 1 or 2 inches apart and pop in the freezer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 450˚F.
- Bake the biscuits until golden brown on top, about 18 minutes.
Notes
This recipe has been updated to decrease the baking powder from 1 tablespoon to 1 1/2 teaspoons.
These look so good, Aaron! Can’t wait to try them. Do you have a favorite brand of cultured butter?
I haven’t done a lot of comparisons, but I used Organic Valley for this recipe.
I can’t find cultured butter. Can I use regular butter? I’m assuming that’s ok.
Yes, you can use regular butter.