Buttermilk Biscuits #2 (Improved) -- Served w/ Spicy & Sweet Autumn Chili

This evening we enjoyed my Spicy & Sweet Autumn Chili for our Superbowl Sunday dinner. I started it this morning and cooked it most of the afternoon. I usually like to use a combination of ground beef and beef chunks to make it, but today I decided to use all beef chunks (about 2-1/2 pounds). I bought a 5-pound package of beautiful stew beef at Costco Friday night and used half of that package and cut it into smaller chunks. It is a spicy chili, so if you don't like it so spicy, reduce the cayenne and hot Hungarian paprika (or omit it altogether). It is filled with tender chunks of beef, fire roasted tomatoes, red, yellow and orange bell pepper, onion, garlic, Poblano pepper and jalapeno pepper. I heated beans up separately for my hubby and son to add to their chili. The contrast to the spicy chili is oven roasted chunks of butternut squash (roasted in oil, salt and pepper) to add a natural sweetness to the spicy chili. If you don't like butternut squash, you don't have to add that...but I think it adds a nice contrast and unique flavor to the spicy chili. 

When I first made this chili in December of 2012, I made "Southern Style Buttermilk Biscuits" to serve with it. One of my followers had commented how she really liked the biscuits but they didn't slice easily (they were fragile). So, last weekend I made a batch that I tweaked a bit and while they turned out better...I wanted to try them again with another little tweak. So, this afternoon I made the buttermilk biscuits again and they turned out more like I wanted them to. A grain-free biscuit will never be quite as sturdy as a wheat and gluten containing biscuit...but these are pretty darn close. Also, it helps to let them cool before slicing in half. I often find that they actually slice more nicely the next day. The best way to reheat them is to slice them first and then reheat in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes. A regular toaster tends to burn them since almond flour burns more easily. 

I snapped a few photos of my "improved buttermilk biscuits" below as well as the recipe. The recipe for my chili is here: Spicy & Sweet Autumn Chili. At that link you will also find the easy recipe for roasting butternut squash as well as my original buttermilk biscuit recipe that I revised to make a little sturdier and easier to slice. I wanted to note an interesting observation -- my recipe made 15 biscuits with the first 12 baked on the first pan. When I baked the last 3 biscuits after the first dozen came out, I noticed that those last 3 seemed to rise a bit more than the ones I baked right away. It leads me to believe that the batter might rise slightly after sitting for 20 minutes. I used a retractable cookie scoop to make the biscuits, so they were fairly uniform in size and the only difference in the last 3 biscuits was that the dough sat for 20 minutes before baking. The improved recipe for Southern Style Buttermilk Biscuits #2 is below. My hubby (who is not grain free) said he could not tell these biscuits from regular biscuits...and since he was born and raised here in Georgia...that's a big deal to me! I snapped a few photos as well as the biscuit recipe below. Enjoy!

All these beautiful vegetables went into my chili!

Cubed butternut squash tossed in oil, sea salt and black pepper before roasting

Improved Southern Style Buttermilk Biscuits!

I finally found plain frozen (no sugar added) cranberries today...Yay!

Southern Style Buttermilk Biscuits #2
(Revised Recipe)

Ingredients:

3 cups blanched almond flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon Kosher or Celtic sea salt
3 tablespoons chilled butter, small diced
3 ounces very cold brick style cream cheese, diced
1/2 cup cold buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a medium mixing bowl and whisk to mix well.  Add diced chilled butter and cream cheese.  Using a pastry/dough blender, quickly cut butter and cream cheese into dry ingredients until it appears crumbly and moistened.  Make a well in the center of the mixture and add buttermilk and egg, mixing until it pulls together into a soft sticky dough. The dough will be light, airy and fluffy.  

On a parchment paper lined baking sheet (or lightly buttered non-stick foil), use a retractable scoop to make 15 equal sized mounds of dough on the baking sheet, spaced evenly apart. Tamp tops very lightly to barely flatten top only (careful not to flatten biscuit).  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until light golden brown. Let cool approximately 5 to 10 minutes for easier slicing. Makes approximately 15 to 18 biscuits.

*If desired, brush tops lightly with melted butter and return to the oven and bake an additional 5 minutes.  

Note: This recipe has been revised from the original recipe to make biscuits less fragile and easier to slice when cooled.