Finally, we have landed on a biscuit we can both agree on. I love these cheddar biscuits, but my husband considers a biscuit a vehicle for butter and jam, and a savory biscuit won’t cut it for that. So we’ve tried many a recipe, some too heavy, other’s not flaky enough, until these.

They are light, probably due to the cake flour we resisted buying for such a small bit in a recipe such as this. We are glad, however, to finally have given that a try. These biscuits are flaky inside and a bit crisp on the outside; the texture is really good.

The salt in these, delivered both in the butter and otherwise, makes your jam taste particularly wonderful on them, which is great because James’ jam is already fabulous, and is the whole point of making this delivery system to begin with. And they are delicious all by themselves, even without the jam.

Also, this recipe makes a small batch, perfect for the two or few of us, with none lingering around too long, tempting us to overdo.

This recipe makes 5 biscuits, but can be multiplied, if you need more.

This is a Melissa Clark recipe, which has been modified by us.

Using good buttermilk and great butter–we use Kerry Gold grassfed–  is key here.

Salty Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe

1 cup organic all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
4.5 tablespoons, salted butter, chilled and cubed
1/2 cup organic buttermilk, chilled

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.

In a bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or fork, quickly cut in 4 tablespoons butter until it forms pea-size crumbs and is uniformly mixed it (for flaky biscuits you want the butter to remain cold). Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in buttermilk. Stir together until it just forms a moist, slightly tacky dough.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 2 or 3 times, then pat out into a ¾-inch-thick round. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut the biscuits. Twisting the cutter prevents proper rising; to prevent sticking, dip the cutter lightly in flour between biscuits. Do not re-roll the scraps, but pat them together and cut into rounds. Transfer biscuits to the baking sheet.

Melt remaining 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Brush butter lightly over the tops of biscuits. Bake until puffed and golden, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Yum! Enjoy!