Thanks, Grandma Dorothea.
It’s official: Winter has arrived and we’re going full holiday mode. When you’re not busy shopping for everyone on your list, you might be churning out yummy baked goods, mixing cocktails, or throwing together a decadent casserole for parties and potlucks.
The holiday menu is a tricky thing, though. Everyone has old family favorites that honor heritage and tradition; it’s important to indulge in these classic dishes, even if you’re just cooking for one. However, cooking the same few meals year in and out can start feeling repetitive. But on the other hand, introducing new players in your old lineup can feel fairly high-stakes.
When in doubt, it never hurts to borrow another family’s tried-and-true recipe — that’s how we discovered Reese Witherspoon’s family’s biscuits. Witherspoon’s grandmother, Dorothea Draper, developed this recipe and probably fine-tuned it through intensive trial and error. Like most iconic family cooks, we guess she ended up with a perfect recipe only after making biscuits over and over for hungry family members of all ages.
Witherspoon was generous enough to share the recipe in a 2016 edition of Oprah’s O Magazine, and we’re infinitely grateful for that because these biscuits straddle the line between basic and unique. As with any good biscuit recipe, you’ll have the ingredients on hand. You’ll need a hefty amount of butter (a whole stick, to be exact), some flour, baking soda, and baking powder. But we love that the recipe includes buttermilk, too. According to Taste of Home, the acidity of buttermilk breaks down gluten and proteins in biscuits, which results in a more tender texture. Plus, the acid reacts with the baking soda to give your baked goods a bit more loft — or a higher rise. And when you use buttermilk, a little hint of tanginess will also emerge in your final dish.
Whether you’re dishing these up for a family brunch or treating yourself to a quiet yet luxurious solo breakfast, Grandma Dorothea is here to guide you toward biscuit success.
Grandma Dorothea’s Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe
Makes 8
Ingredients
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) butter, divided (2 Tbsp. melted; 6 Tbsp. cold, cut into small cubes)
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 Tbsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
¾ cup cold buttermilk
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Lightly brush a baking sheet with some of the melted butter.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, work 6 Tbsp. cold butter into the flour until all that remains are pea-sized lumps. Using a fork, stir in buttermilk to make a shaggy dough.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and briefly knead to make a uniform dough. Gently roll out into a roughly 6” x 10” rectangle, use a 2½” round cutter to cut the dough into 8 biscuits, and arrange on a prepared baking sheet. (Reroll scraps to make additional biscuits, if you like.)
Brush biscuit tops with remaining melted butter and bake until puffed and golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.
