Lady Mary and Buttermilk Biscuits

"I'll admit that if I ever wanted to attract a man, I'd stay away from those clothes and that hat."

Sisters can be so mean.  This quote is from the series "Downton Abbey" on PBS.  Downton Abbey is a story set in the early twentieth century about an upper-class British family.  There are three sisters, two who definitely don't get along.  The older, Lady Mary is very pretty and very mean to her younger and plainer sister, Edith.  She is always making disparaging remarks about Edith's prospects.

In this scene, they are at the flower show and the hat Edith is wearing is very similar to one I finished making today.  I think it is very pretty, I don't think I would call it a man trap, but Lady Mary will say anything to insult her sister.  So clothing and hats aside, I wonder if Edith has ever considered the lure of buttermilk biscuits?

The men in my life are crazy about buttermilk biscuits!  And even though these biscuits are gluten free, I don't think you can tell them apart from biscuits made with wheat flour.  They are easy to make, and since they are dropped biscuits there is almost no handling of the dough.


Buttermilk Biscuits


Makes 12 biscuits

1 cup gluten free flour
1 cup rice flour
1 1/2 tsp, xanthan gum
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons very cold butter
1 1/4 cups buttermilk


Sift flours, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt together in a mixing bowl.  Cut the butter into 1/2 inch pieces and add to the flour mixture.  Blend with your hands until it resembles coarse meal.  Do not over blend.  Make a well and pour in the buttermilk.  With a wooden spoon, mix the flour into the buttermilk just enough to blend into a rough looking dough.  Butter a cookie sheet only on the twelve spots for your biscuits.  Using a tablespoon, drop 3 tablespoons of dough onto the buttered spots and bake in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for about 12-15 minutes or until the tips of the biscuits are golden brown.  Serve immediately.


My family eats jam with their biscuits, even with a savory soup.  I have also used this dough to top chicken pot pies instead of a pastry crust.  J.J. eats one whole biscuit first, he doesn't cut them open and have them with jam until after that first biscuit. He says he is testing for quality control and always declares them yummy!

To see the latest collection of Zazu & Violets' hats, please visit our on-line Etsy shop.