Cornmeal Sage Biscuits
Yes. It’s true. One month into 2021, and I’m sharing yet ANOTHER biscuit recipe.
We’ve established a long time ago that they’re somewhat of an obsession of mine, but this time there’s a whole separate ‘excuse’ for why they’re making another appearance.
These biscuits make up one half of another ‘meal’ recipe that I’ll be posting next week. But I thought that rather than dump them both at the same time, I’d break them apart and just like a sit down meal in a restaurant, make the carbs the appetizer before serving the ‘meat’ next week.
If you’ve ever taken a look at the Recipe Index on the blog, you’d probably be able to tell that I have a mild fixation with yellow cornmeal. I like it both for its flavor and the texture it gives to baked goods. I think it was around two years ago when I first experimented with it in biscuit dough.
Cornmeal gives the biscuit a coarser texture, but I’ve learned since then how to counterbalance the potential heaviness in the dough with the addition of sour cream, which does positively SINFUL things to the texture of just about any baked good you add it to.
I knew going into making these that I wanted to boost the typically neutral flavor of biscuits, and give them a savory flavor. For that reason I seasoned the dough with sage and what’s become my favorite spice mix, the Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Saute. I use it in just about everything I cook. But if you don’t have it on hand, that’s fine. Just use another seasoning blend you’re partial to like any of the many ones from McCormick, Mrs. Dash, or Weber’s.
I was extremely pleased with how these turned out. They rose beautifully even with the cornmeal, and the flavor is FANTASTIC. They paired beautifully with the ‘second component’ of the dish I made for our dinner that I’ll be sharing next week. So stay tuned 😉
Wear a mask. Social distance. Stay safe. Be kind.
********************************************
Recipe Loosely Adapted from King Arthur Flour Ingredients Directions For Biscuits In a large bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, sugar, sage and the seasoning mix. Stir together with a fork. Use the large holes on a box grater to grate the butter directly into the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the sour cream. Use a fork to ‘cut’ it into the dry ingredients until it forms thick clumps. Make another hole in the middle of the dry ingredients, and pour the buttermilk. Use a large fork and a large rubber spatula to stir the mixture together. If it seems a little dry you may add the additional buttermilk, just until it forms a shaggy dough. Sprinkle a pastry mat, wooden cutting board or a clean smooth countertop with flour. Turn the dough out onto the surface and pat a few times with your hands until it loosely holds together. (Don’t knead it too much or the warmth in your palms will melt the butter and cause the biscuits to be tough.) Use a bench scraper or a large sharp knife to divide the dough in half. Roughly shape each half into a square. Stack one of the halves on top of the other and use a rolling pin to roll it together into one mass. Repeat this process 4-5 more times before patting it into one final rectangle. (This is a process of layering so that the biscuits will bake flaky). Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight. Preheat oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place a shallow pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven. Sprinkle your work surface with flour and unwrap the biscuit dough out onto it. Use a bench scraper or very sharp knife to trim the edges of the rectangle. Use a biscuit cutter, or a knife to cut the dough into rounds about 2″ each. You can recut the leftover dough into new biscuits, just try not to handle it too much. Remove the cut biscuits to the baking sheet you’ve lined with parchment paper, placing them rather close to each other (it will help them rise higher). Place the tray into the freezer about 15 minutes. Spray the tops with cooking spray. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes, covering them with foil if they brown too quickly.Cornmeal Sage Biscuits
Sharing at this week’s Fiesta Friday #365, co-hosted this week by Eff @ Food Daydreaming.
These look magnificent! Love that you used cornmeal and sour cream here. Did you save me one, or am I too late?
Thanks Dorothy! Sorry-we’re fresh out 😉
❤️
Sounds great. I’m curious though about the sugar. I’ve never seen sugar listed in biscuit recipes. Can this be left out. Thanks for introducing me to TJ’s spice mix. I haven’t been close to a TJ’s in a long time so hadn’t seen that. It sounds good. Fresh rosemary would be nice in these too.
This recipe is a rendition of my ‘base’ one that I make often, and I actually think that I have forgotten the sugar once or twice before by mistake– if I remember correctly it didn’t seem to make too much of a difference, they were just a little more salty than usual. And YES! Rosemary would be a great addition to these. Thank you, hope all is well 🙂
A sour cream-based biscuit AND sage? Winning combination! I’m definitely going to try these. Thanks for sharing your recipe with the fiesta
Thank you! The sour cream makes them unbelievably tender and the sage gives them amazing flavor. I hope you enjoy 🙂