Good morning!

It’s Sunday, and I’ve decided that we need an edible daily respite today.

My favorite antidote to a bumpy week (and even a smooth one) is to make buttermilk drop biscuits. These are as easy as they come. They bake in the time it takes to make coffee and fry up some bacon and eggs. They smell delicious, they taste delicious, and for one brief moment they make everything good in the world.

If you’d like to join along, here’s the recipe for you.

Preheat your oven to 450F and grease a baking sheet.

In a bowl, place 1 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp salt. I don’t bother to sift them all together, I just give a few swirls with a whisk to blend everything.

Now, cut in 3 Tbsp butter that you’ve cut into cubes. Unsalted? Salted? Don’t stress it, whatever you have around. I use a handheld pastry blender, but you can also engage two forks in a pitched battle until the butter has been reduced to rubble.

Measure 2/3 cup buttermilk. Don’t have buttermilk? You can cheat by putting 3 tsp white vinegar or lemon juice into 2/3 cup milk and letting it get a little jiggly. Or just use milk, although the results may be a little different.

Here’s the critical part: Stir in the buttermilk very swiftly and with as few strokes as possible. You don’t want to overwork this dough.

Now drop it in heaping soupspoons onto the greased baking sheet. Bonus points if the sheet belonged to your grandma like mine did. I usually manage to get 8 biscuits out of one batch. (The recipe easily doubles, by the way.)

Slide the tray in your oven and bake for 13 minutes. If you have a wonky oven you may want to keep an eye on things. You’ll want your biscuits to have browned peaks and crunchy bottoms.

Time everything else so that the minute the biscuits are done they can be served and devoured. They don’t really need butter, though I do like to put a dollop of jam on my plate for dipping.

Tip: You can also add some fresh-ground pepper and a grating of cheese for extra flavor. Or go wild and put some diced jalapeño in there. The world, I mean biscuit, is your oyster.

Thank you for letting me share my Sunday grounding ritual with you, and for keeping me company this week.

Onwards!

Clara