To maximize the recent three-day Presidents’ weekend, Karl and I took a road trip down to our nation’s capital to visit my dear friend and college roommate! Our trip happened to coincide with the coldest weekend of the season, so we spent about 2 seconds looking at each monument before racing back into the car. There was a period of time when I thought I had lost my toes forever.
We, along with the rest of DC, huddled like emperor penguins inside the museums. You’ll find I went a little camera happy inside the US Botanic Garden. Everything growing in there was begging me to take a picture of it, so I happily obliged. A handful of shots are at the end of the post, and the rest of photos are posted here!
My beloved friend/gracious host took us around to the finest eateries in town. At Baked & Wired, we ordered biscuits and cupcakes for breakfast (I love being an adult). The red velvet and hazelnut caramel were both delicious, but the baked good that nearly knocked me off my feet was their crusty and buttery goat cheese rosemary biscuit. The food blogger in me instinctively took mental notes as I deconstructed the biscuit with each bite. I decided the first thing I was going to do when I got home was not unpack but replicate that biscuit in my kitchen. I stayed true to my word. It has been two days since our trip and our room is still covered with clothes and bags. But I now have this awesome recipe to share with you all!
In the name of crusty biscuit bottoms, I baked these savory and sweet biscuits in a cast-iron skillet (but a baking sheet will work too!). The buttermilk and goat cheese (a.k.a. chèvre) ensure that the mildly tart biscuits will come out moist. The fresh rosemary adds a lovely fragrance that complements the goat cheese so well. And for a gentle dose of sweetness…coarse gold sugar sprinkles – because I think everyone should have sprinkles in their breakfast.
Thank you Presidents for all your hard work, for inspiring all the mattress and car blowout sales, and for this much needed long weekend!
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons chilled and diced unsalted butter + 3 tablespoons unsalted butter stick
- 4 ounces goat cheese log
- 3 tablespoons rosemary, coarsely chopped
- 1¼ cups buttermilk
- ¼ teaspoon coarse sugar crystals (I used William Sonoma's gold shimmer sugar)
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- In a food processor, combine the 2¼ cups flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend on high speed until incorporated. Add 4 tablespoons diced butter and goat cheese, then pulse 5 to 6 times until the butter is the size of peas. Pour into a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk in the rosemary, then stir in the buttermilk.
- Melt 1 tablespoon unsalted butter in a 10-1/2 inch cast iron skillet over medium-low heat, then set aside.
- Sprinkle ¼ cup of flour on a clean surface, then turn out the dough (but do not overwork). Pat the dough into an inch thick circle. Coat your biscuit cutter in flour, then cut out 8 biscuits. Arrange the in the skillet.
- Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons unsalted butter in the microwave, then brush over the biscuits. Sprinkle sugar crystals over the top.
- Bake until golden brown, about 23 minutes.
food processor*
2-1/2 inch biscuit cutter
10-1/2 inch cast iron skillet**
*If you do not have a food processor, you can whisk the dry ingredients and use a pasty blender or fork to cut the butter and goat cheese into the flour.
**These biscuits can also be baked on a medium (10x15 inch) baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the biscuits out on the baking sheet and bake at the same temperature until golden brown.
sounds and looks delicious, Connie! will look forward to trying this soon. Glad you all had a fun getaway, but brrr! We may hit 80 degrees here today, what a warm Feb we’ve had.
These look delicious! What an innovative flavor combination too. Your DC trip looks super fun – one of my favorite cities – miss living there! If you go back in a month or two, you might catch the cherry blossoms which bloom along the Jefferson Memorial and look stunning!