Buttermilk Pie Crust (All Butter Pie Crust)

 I was searching for an easy buttermilk pie crust recipe and tried this one. I love it! It was a perfect crust for my pies. I have to give credit to King Arthur Test Kitchen for this recipe.

2 1/2 cups of flour. 

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp buttermilk powder

16 Tbsp of unsalted butter (I did use salted butter and just reduced the salt in the recipe to 1/2 tsp)

1/4 to 1 cup ice water

Step by step

1) Whisk together flour, salt, and buttermilk powder (they said this was optional, but I think it needs it.)

2) Dice the butter into small cubes. Work it into the flour mixture (I used my food processor, pulsing until it was well distributed but not fully mixed in.) I call is small pea sized mixture.)

3) Gradually add the ice water mixing it with a fork or your fingers until it starts to come together. (I had to add more water the recipe called for, almost twice the 1/2 cup. However, start with the 1/4 cup suggested and add what you need for it to come together) 

4) Gather the dough, handling it as little as possible. Divide the dough in half and form a round disc.

5) You can roll the dough immediately or refrigerate up to a half hour. It was suggested that for a better texture that you refrigerate it. If you refrigerate it for more than half hour, you will need to let it come to room temperature for 15-20 minutes before you work with it.

Buttermilk Syrup

 I have seen a lot of different recipes for Buttermilk Syrup.  This is what I have come up with.

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1.  Start melting butter in a pan.

2.  Add sugar and buttermilk when it has is about half melted.

3.  Stir frequently.  When it is all melted and starting to boil, remove from heat.  Don't let it boil more than a minute.

4.  Add vanilla and stir.

5.  Add baking powder and stir in.  It will start to foam ,so make sure that you have a large enough pan or it will over flow.  I use a 1 quart pan and it doesn't overflow.

Buttermilk Biscuits

I have had to cut this recipe down so that when it is just the two of us, we don't have a lot of biscuits left over.  This made four good sized biscuits.  It's easy to double, triple or quadruple for how many you are feeding.

1 cup flour
1/2 TBS Baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup butter or shortening
1/3 cup cold buttermilk

1.  Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together.
2.  Add the butter or shortening.  Using a fork, mash the butter into the flour mixture.  Keep mixing until the flour and butter are well blended.  I start using the fork and then mix it with  my hands to finish getting the right texture.
3.  Add the cold buttermilk and stir with a fork, gathering the flour/butter mixture in together. 
4.  When it starts to hold together well, knead the dough for about a minute.
5.  Let is sit for two minutes.
6.  Roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thickness.  Cut the biscuits into round shapes.  (Doesn't have to be round though...)
7.  Place the biscuits onto an un-greased baking pan.  You can either have them touching, or not.  If they touch, the sides will be softer where they join together.
8.  Bake at 425 F. degrees (230 C) for 12-15 minutes, until they are golden brown.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Ingredients:
      1 1/2 cups wheat flour
      1 cup sugar
      1 teaspoon baking soda
      1/2 teaspoon salt
      1 cup buttermilk
      1 egg
      1/4 cup oil
      1/2 cup brown sugar
      3 tsp cinnamon

Mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Mix buttermilk, egg and oil.  Stir it into the flour mixture just enough to moisten the flour.
Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together.
Grease the bottom of a 9 x 5 bread loaf pan.
Pour half of the batter into the bottom of the pan.
Sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top.
Carefully pour the other half of the batter on top of this.
Sprinkle the other half of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top.
Use a clean knife and cut through the batter to swirl the cinnamon and sugar mixture through the batter.  Be careful not to mix it too much.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the top comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then remove it.  Put it on a wire rack to finish cooling.

If you want to cover it with a glaze, mix 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons of milk together.  drizzle it over the loaf.

This recipe makes one loaf of quick bread.