Corn Flour Biscuits with Maple Butter

Here's a scrumptious addition to any brunch. Your guests are sure to appreciate these warm, golden, light and fluffy biscuits with sweet maple butter melting through them.

Make these using a large biscuit cutter and they make the ideal base for your favorite breakfast sandwich. I made this one last weekend with some of our Maple Chipotle Pulled Pork
and an over easy egg on top. Sure, it was a fork and knife kinda sandwich but boy was it ever delicious!

Makes about 18 two inch biscuits

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a food processor, blend together

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups unbleached yellow corn flour

9 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Pulse in

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp very cold vegetable shortening, cut in small cubes (I store mine in the freezer)

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp very cold salted butter, cut in small cubes

Do not over incorporate the shortening and butter into the flour. Similar to making a flaky pastry, small pieces of butter should be visible in the flour. 

Transfer this mixture from the food processor into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Pour in

2 cups buttermilk

Working very quickly with a wooden spoon, fold the dry mixture through the buttermilk, only until the flour disappears, then stop immediately. Drop the sticky dough onto a well floured counter top or bread board. Sprinkle the top of the dough with additional flour as well as flouring your hands to handle the dough. I don't even use a rolling pin for these biscuits, the dough is soft enough to pat it out gently with floured hands to a thickness of about 1 & 1/2 inches. Using a sharp 2 inch biscuit cutter cut the biscuits out an place them, almost touching, on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. I recommend aluminum baking sheets because they tolerate the higher oven temperature without burning the bottom of the biscuits.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits are evenly golden brown. Delicious served warm with Maple Butter.

Maple Butter

Honey butter is simply honey beaten into plain butter in a 2 to 1 ratio of butter to honey.

1 cup butter (not margarine or other horrible butter substitutes)

1/3 cup maple syrup

Beat together with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy.