Apple Cider Biscuits

One hundred weeks. That is how I think of this week. I have been keeping this blog for a long time. Long enough that I have to scroll very far back to read the beginning and the person in those early entries is me but younger, more armored, writing around the edges of things rather than directly at them. I have gotten more direct. Tyler says that about me generally. He says I say what I mean more than I did when we first met. I think that is what safety does. It lets you uncross your arms.

Made the full Sunday dinner this week for the occasion of nothing except that it is Sunday and that is the occasion. Fried chicken. Biscuits. Greens with ham. Field peas. Cornbread with the crispy bottom from the preheated cast iron. Macaroni and cheese, baked. Sweet potato pie. I made all of it. Destiny and I cooked side by side for four hours and Gloria directed from her chair and Tyler sat at the table reading something and occasionally asking how long until food and I said soon every time.

I am twenty-seven years old and married and employed and rooted and cooking at the same stove where I learned to cook, alongside a seven-year-old who is learning the same things I learned at the same stove. The continuity of this is something I do not take for granted. Someone has to be the beginning of a thing. I get to be the beginning of something that lasts. That is enough. That is everything.

Of everything on that Sunday table — and there was a lot on that table — the biscuits are the thing Destiny kept reaching for, and that felt right to me. Biscuits are the recipe I want her to know by feel someday, the way I know it, the way Gloria knows it. These apple cider biscuits have just enough sweetness to make them something a little special, which is exactly what a hundredth week deserves. I’m writing them down here so they don’t get lost.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 14 min | Total Time: 29 min | Servings: 10 biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
3/4 cup cold apple cider
2 tablespoons cold buttermilk
1 tablespoon melted butter, for brushing

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Place a cast iron skillet or baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 450°F. A hot pan gives the biscuits that crispy bottom.
Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined.
Cut in the butter. Add the cold cubed butter and work it into the flour mixture with your fingertips or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Work quickly so the butter stays cold.
Add the liquids. Make a well in the center and pour in the cold apple cider and buttermilk. Stir gently with a fork just until the dough comes together — do not overmix. The dough will be shaggy and a little sticky.
Shape the biscuits. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it gently to about 3/4-inch thickness. Fold the dough once or twice to create layers, then pat back to 3/4 inch. Cut into rounds with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, pressing straight down without twisting.
Bake. Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven and arrange the biscuits on it. Brush the tops with melted butter. Bake for 12–14 minutes, until the tops are golden and the bottoms are deep brown and crisp.
Finish and serve. Brush with a second coat of melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven. Serve warm alongside whatever else is on the table.

Nutrition (per serving)

Apple Cider Biscuits — The Biscuits That Belong on That Table