Bacon Honey Mustard Biscuits #FoodieExtravaganza

Super full of bacon with a good hit of sweetness from the honey, these bacon honey mustard biscuits will be a favorite on your breakfast or brunch table. 

This month our host for Foodie Extravaganza is Kathleen at Fearlessly Creative Mammas and she has exhorted us to help her celebrate her southern roots by baking buttermilk biscuits. Apparently it's Buttermilk Biscuit Day on May 14th. Who knew? Being from the southern United States myself, I have several biscuit recipes already in my repertoire, like these make ahead biscuits that are frozen and can be baked as you need them which is very handy! I could also have shared my aunt’s made from scratch biscuits, the ones I make most often, but she got the recipe from her mother-in-law and it includes instructions that are hard to quantify, like “add just enough milk.” How much is just enough? Ah, therein lies the secret of Mrs. Davis’ fluffy biscuits.

I was trolling the internet and came across a recipe for maple syrup biscuits with bacon which sounded fabulous. The addition of bacon to any recipe is a good thing. All those from maple syrup producing regions, please cover your eyes for this next admission: At our house, Aunt Jemima Butter Lite syrup is our maple syrup substitute. We love that stuff. It's a bit thin though so I wasn't sure how it would behave in biscuit dough.

You know what also goes with bacon?  Honey and mustard – think Christmas ham. Mine always has a honey mustard glaze!

Serve these guys warm and they will be gone in no time.

Ingredients for 12 biscuits
1 pound or 450g streaky bacon, cut into 1/2-inch or 1cm pieces
1 3/4 cups or 220g flour, plus extra for the work surface
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 115g chilled butter
1/3 cup or 80ml honey
2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
1/3-1/2 cup or 80-120ml cold buttermilk – just enough till it hangs together like a dough

Method
Fry your bacon pieces in a large pan until they are nicely browned but not too hard. Drain them on some paper towels. I use some newspaper from the recycling bin and put a piece of clean paper towel on top so the bacon isn’t touching the newsprint. Works like a charm and saves on paper towels.

Sift together your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Cut the chilled butter into 1/2 in or 1cm cubes. Use a pastry blender to cut them into the flour mixture, until the little butter pieces are tiny and covered in flour.

Add in the bacon and stir to coat the bacon with the flour mixture.

Add in your honey, mustard and about 1/3 cup or 80ml of the buttermilk. Start folding the ingredients together, adding the rest of the buttermilk if it seems too dry.

Flour your clean work surface and scrape the dough out onto it.

Flour your hands liberally and knead the dough two or three turns. Press the dough out till it’s about and 1 in or 2.5cm thick.

Flour your biscuit cutter or a large glass and cut the biscuits out and put them on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment or a silicone liner.

Pop the whole pan into the freezer to chill while you preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

When the oven is preheated, bake the biscuits for 18-22 minutes or until they are nicely browned.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving warm.

My original plan was to brush these with melted butter and honey when they came out of the oven but I can assure you that they don’t need it. They are chock full of bacon and just sweet enough from the honey already inside! They go ever so nicely with a sunny-side-up egg.

Enjoy!

How do you like your biscuits? We've really kicked them up a notch this month!

• Bacon Honey Mustard Biscuits by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
• Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls with Chopped Pecans by Elaine from Cookin and Craftin
• Buttermilk Biscuit Mixed Berry Shortcake by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Buttermilk Lemon Biscuits by Kathya from Basic N Delicious
• Cacio e Pepe Biscuits by Laura at Baking in Pajamas
• Cinnamon Buttermilk Biscuits by Lauren at From Gate to Plate
• French Toast Biscuits by Teri from The Freshman Cook
• Maple and Bacon Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits by Rebekah at Making Miracles
• Savory Buttermilk Butter Biscuits by Kathleen at Fearlessly Creative Mammas
• Southern Buttermilk Biscuits by Georgina from G'Gina's Kitchenette
• Southern Buttermilk Biscuits by Sneha from Sneha's Recipes
• Tarragon Sweet Potato Biscuits by Caroline at Caroline's Cooking

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays or shares recipes with the same ingredient or theme every month.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook group Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

If you're a reader looking for delicious recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out here.

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Buttermilk Cheddar Mini Muffins #MuffinMonday

Mini muffins are the perfect small snack, especially when they are made with extra bitey cheddar cheese, buttermilk and a good sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper. 

I had a baking failure today. No, not these lovely little muffins. They are a breeze to slap together and bake up golden, with crunchy outsides and more-ish insides. I could have eaten all 12 singlehandedly, so I made myself quit at one and I brought them along to share with my Bible study ladies. Where I proceeded to eat two more. Cheesy muffins are one of my weaknesses. The major failure was the coconut rum shortbread cookies I’ll be sharing tomorrow.

I creamed the butter, add the powdered sugar and then the rest of the ingredients. Spread the dough out and popped the pan into the oven, smugly thinking to myself, “with time to spare!” I set the timer for 12 minutes initially and checked on the shortbread when the bell rang. It was bubbling! I mean seriously, truly, like I had made caramel in the baking pan or something, bubbling. And that is what you get when you bake a cup of butter with powdered sugar, some coconut and a little cornstarch. A viscous mess that will never, ever become cookies. I forgot the flour. Totally user error. Man, I hate when I do that!

And that is my excuse for eating three cheesy muffins. Consolation. You find your own excuse.

Ingredients 
1 cup or 125g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 oz or 85g extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided
Freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
1/2 cup or 120ml buttermilk
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and liberally grease your 12-cup mini muffin pan. You could probably stretch this batter to 18 mini muffins if you fill the cups three-quarters full.

Grate your cheddar, if it’s not already grated.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and a few generous grinds of black pepper.

In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk together your egg, buttermilk and oil.

Pour your liquids into the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.

Now fold in all but a handful of the grated sharp cheddar.

Divide the batter between the prepared cups in the muffin pan. Top the batter with the reserved grated cheddar. Give each one another good grind of black pepper.

Bake in your preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the muffins are lovely and golden.

Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes then remove to a wire rack to continue cooling.

These are fabulous warm or room temperature and go great with a glass of wine or whatever cocktail you might be serving.

Enjoy!


Ever have a disaster in the kitchen? Do share!

What a difference some flour makes, right?! 

Check back tomorrow when I'll be sharing these wonderful coconut rum cookies with rum glaze for Creative Cookie Exchange.

Buttermilk Roast Chicken Breasts for #RandomRecipeChallenge

Chicken marinated in buttermilk becomes tender and juicy, even whole chicken breasts, which are notorious for becoming dry during roasting.  These were succulently, fragrantly delicious! 

The Random Recipe Challenge has gone back to its theme-less origins this month, with Dom proclaiming that we should choose a random cookbook off the shelf and open it to a new random recipe.  And make it.

Read all about it by clicking here.

I got lucky.  Not in the sense that I had the ingredients, because that did require a trip to the supermarket but I was hoping for something savory after completing Cookie Week last Saturday and the Creative Cookie Challenge on Tuesday.  I enjoyed baking the cookies.  I really did.  But my fervent prayer was still, “Please don’t let it be another cookie!”  My random book was Nigella Lawson’s Express, a book I really haven’t used very much so the chances of my opening to a familiar recipe were practically nil.  It fell open to Buttermilk Roast Chicken and I thought it was going to be like Jamie Oliver’s chicken baked in milk, which I have made.  And enjoyed.  But, nope.  The buttermilk is just part of the marinade, with seasonings added.  I have to say, “Thanks, Dom!”  Because I think we’ve found a new family favorite!

Ingredients
For the marinade:
2 cups or 480ml buttermilk
1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil plus more for during roasting
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sea salt flakes or 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon maple syrup (You know what I substituted.)

For roasting:
6 chicken breasts with wings still attached (or chicken pieces of your choice, approximately 3lbs or 1.4kg total weight)
2 tablespoons of olive oil or duck fat for the baking pan
Sprinkle cayenne pepper and extra black pepper

Method
In a Ziploc bag large enough to hold all your chicken breasts, add the peeled garlic, salt, cumin, black pepper and olive oil.

Close the bag and use the heel of your hand to crush the garlic cloves, being careful not to pierce the bag.

Add in the buttermilk and then the chicken.  Seal the bag and mash everything around to make sure that all parts of the chicken are covered with seasoned liquid.

Leave the chicken marinating in the refrigerator overnight or at the very least out of the fridge for 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.  I put it in a deep plate, just in case the bag leaked a little.  Fortunately, it didn’t, but you never know with those Ziplocs.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F or 190°C.

Prepare a baking pan large enough for the chicken breasts to sit apart and in a single layer by lining it with foil and coating it with olive oil or duck fat, if you prefer.  If you are using duck fat, you can melt it in the pan in the preheating oven.

You KNOW I chose the duck fat option! 

Take the chicken out of the bag and drain it well in a colander.

Arrange the breasts in your prepared baking pan, skin side DOWN to coat with olive oil or duck fat.

Now turn the breasts over, sprinkle with a little more black pepper and some cayenne.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and drizzle a little more olive oil on the breasts and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Remove the chicken to a serving plate and use a spoon to gently scrape up the lovely brown bits from the foil, adding a little hot water if necessary to remove them.  Serve this lovely pan juice alongside your chicken.   It is fabulous on mashed potatoes or rice.

Enjoy!

Homemade Buttermilk Waffles

Traditional homemade buttermilk waffles make a great breakfast for dinner option! Glass of wine optional. But recommended.

I’ve got to start out by saying, I am not a breakfast person.  Now that doesn’t mean that I am not a morning person, because I absolutely am.  Cup of coffee and I am good to go.  I just think that Western breakfast foods like eggs and pancakes and waffles are mere convention and other cultures would rarely eat those things, even for breakfast.  

I was delighted when I first traveled to Asia in 1981 and the hotel breakfast buffet included fried rice, fried noodles, various curries and even bowls of chopped chilies to add on to all three. My favorite breakfast is dinner from the night before. Leftover whatever: pork chops, curry, spaghetti Bolognese.  All joy on my morning plate.  That said, occasionally we do have conventional breakfast for dinner!  Which complicates matters for my breakfast the next morning. But never you mind.

First fry up some bacon. Not too crispy.  You want to be able to chew on it.  Okay, that’s how I like it.  Make it crispy if you must.

Then make up some homemade buttermilk waffles.  Glass of wine optional.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups or 220g flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda or bicarbonate of soda

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

2 cups or 475ml buttermilk or 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and milk up to the two-cup or 475ml measure.

1/3 cup or 78ml salad oil

2 eggs

Method

Preheat your waffle maker as per manufacturer’s instructions.  

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. 

Add in the buttermilk (or milk/vinegar mixture which is an excellent substitute for buttermilk) and salad oil and the eggs. Beat until thoroughly blended.

Pour batter into the center of the lower half of the waffle maker, being careful to leave room for when the batter spreads out as you lower the lid and also for when the waffle starts to bake when rising. 

Close the lid and watch for the signal that your waffle is cooking.  On my waffle maker, the light goes green when it is ready for batter, red when it is cooking and then green again when the waffle is ready. 

I leave the waffle in just a little bit longer after the light turns green so the waffles are nice and crispy.  Yes, I know, limp bacon, but crispy waffles.  I am a woman of contradictions.

Serve with butter and syrup with bacon on the side. And your preferred beverage.  Enjoy!  

Pin these homemade buttermilk waffles!