Jam Filled Buttermilk Biscuits

A few weeks ago my cousin Becca was in town, visiting from D.C. and wanting to get together with my sister and me. After a few back and forth emails we decided Sunday brunch would be perfect, and let's also invite my other cousin Dominique, a grad student at Boston College (so close, yet so, so far away on the dreaded Green Line). And hey, have I mentioned how much Adam and I like hosting brunch? We had a big shebang on New Year's Day and I maintain that it's the best meal to host because everyone is happy not to be waiting in line somewhere and it's ok to drink champagne at 10 am. Oh, and if you want to, you can wear PJs. Yes!

So I took a look at the recipes I had earmarked for our previous brunch and noticed I had not had time for these jam-filled buttermilk biscuits from Grand Central Bakery (via Leite's Culinaria). Now you guys know that my fiance is Oklahoma-born-and-bread; buttermilk biscuits are his jam. So imagine if you will: jam on the jam. Homemade jam. Homemade biscuits. BOOM. The six of us ate eleven of these in one sitting.

I  mean, look at that. Look at those biscuits! They're like stained-glass breakfast AWESOME. And yes, that is melty butter all pooled up in the pan. Can I get an aaaaaw yeeeaaah?

Jam Filled Buttermilk Biscuits or "Jammers"

adapted from Grand Central Bakery

makes about a dozen

I mixed up the dry ingredients on Saturday evening and stuck the bowl in the fridge overnight. In the morning I added liquid, patted out the dough, cut and filled the biscuits, and baked. These do bake for a lot longer than regular biscuits (40 minutes versus 15-20) so plan accordingly. Also, I tend to keep dry buttermilk powder around for baking, as I find it somewhat difficult to use an entire quart of buttermilk before it's sad, sour demise. If you choose to use liquid buttermilk, add it where I added water, and skip the buttermilk powder in the dry ingredients.

4 cups  all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

4 tablespoons buttermilk powder
1 cup (8 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups (10 to 12 fluid ounces) cold water
About 3/4 cup good quality preserves or jam (I used half peach and half raspberry, both home canned last summer)

Preheat the oven to 350°F .

Measure dry ingreidents - flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, buttermilk powder, salt - into a bowl and whisk it all up.

Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, blend the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse meal with a few pea-sized pieces of butter remaining.  (This is where you should stop and stick the bowl in the fridge the night before you want to eat jammers.)

Add 1 1/4 cups of ice water (or liquid buttermilk, if using) to the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix the dough until it comes together in a rough mass. If there is dry flour at the bottom of the bowl, add a little more liquid a tablespoon at a time until it comes together. Turn the 2-3 messy clumps out onto a floured surface and pat them together into one big oval about an inch and a half thick.

Using a biscuit cutter or large mouth glass, cut circles of at least 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Pat the scraps into another oval and cut as many as you can from the second go.

Using your thumb, make an indentation in the center of the biscuit - be careful not to squish the outsides, as that would mangle the layers and mess up the flakiness. Carefully widen the hole in the jammer as if you were making a pinch pot, and fill each hole with a tablespoon or so of jam. (Use the best jam you can stand, you'll be glad you did.)

Lay the jammers on a baking sheet with 1 1/2 inches of space between them. Bake for 35-40 minutes, turning once for even color, until they are a deep golden brown. Serve warm from the oven.