Blueberry Biscuits

New Year's Eve into New Year's Day, 2023. The transition from one year to the next is always strange in this house — Mama and Daddy pretend they will stay up until midnight and fall asleep by 10:30, Kayla and I eat black-eyed peas on schedule, MawMaw Shirley calls at 12:01 to confirm the peas have been consumed. The surveillance continues into the new year. The peas were consumed. I made them myself this time — with smoked sausage and a bay leaf and the Trinity, served over rice, the way MawMaw Shirley does it but in my mother's kitchen. New Year's food is superstition dressed as tradition, and I participate in both.

Mama's New Year's Day spread: black-eyed peas, collard greens, ham, cornbread, sweet potato casserole. The greens are for money. The peas are for luck. The ham is for ham. Not everything has to be symbolic. Sometimes food is food, and the eating of it is the celebration, and the celebration is the point.

I spent the afternoon writing in my journal — the first long journal entry in weeks, because finals consumed the writing time the way finals consume everything. I wrote about the semester: what I learned, what I cooked, who I became. The girl who moved in August was a high school valedictorian with a plan. The girl who came home in December is a college student with a GPA and a study group and a dorm floor that expects dinner on Fridays. The girl is the same girl. The girl is a different girl. Both things are true, which is the paradox of growth: you change and you don't, simultaneously, and the trick is recognizing which parts changed and which parts were always there, waiting to be uncovered.

Tomorrow I turn nineteen. One year closer to the white coat. One year deeper into the roux. MawMaw Shirley's recipe. MawMaw Shirley's patience. My hands. My kitchen. My life, which is just beginning, which is already in progress, which is both at once. Don't rush. Keep stirring. The color will come.

Mama’s New Year’s Day table is never just one dish — it’s a whole conversation, and the biscuits are always the punctuation. This year, with my hands finally confident enough in that kitchen to carry the peas on my own, I wanted to bring something of my own invention to the spread: blueberry biscuits, tall and golden, because sweetness belongs at a table built on gratitude, and because MawMaw Shirley always says the meal isn’t finished until there’s something worth reaching for. These come together fast, which matters when you’re already managing a pot of peas and a pan of greens and a birthday on the horizon.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 10

Ingredients

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

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar until evenly combined.
Cut in the butter. Add the cold cubed butter to the flour mixture. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Do not overwork.
Add buttermilk and blueberries. Pour in the cold buttermilk and stir gently with a fork just until the dough begins to come together. Fold in the blueberries carefully to avoid crushing them.
Shape the biscuits. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat gently to about 1-inch thickness. Do not knead. Use a 2 1/2-inch round cutter or a glass to cut out biscuits, pressing straight down without twisting. Gather scraps and repeat.
Bake. Arrange biscuits on the prepared baking sheet so they are just touching. Brush the tops with melted butter. Bake for 13—15 minutes, until risen and golden brown on top.
Serve warm. Transfer to a wire rack for a few minutes, then serve warm alongside butter, honey, or straight as they are. They are best the day they are made.

Nutrition (per serving)

Blueberry Biscuits — The Southern Table That Raised Me