Blueberry Biscuits

Why eat a blueberry muffin when you can have a fluffy, buttery blueberry biscuit instead? Inspired by the Bo-Berry Biscuits at Bojangles, the Southern fast-food chain, we set out to create our own recipe for blueberry biscuits. We wanted to be careful to keep these in the realm of flaky biscuits, and that meant keeping their sweetness in check so that they didn't eat like a cake or muffin. We were after the delicious sweet and slightly salty flavor of the fast-food biscuits, but of course we wanted to use real blueberries. We started by mixing together all-purpose flour, a little sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then we smashed in some chilled butter with our fingertips, a step that gives biscuits their signature flaky interior crumb; the large pieces of butter melt in the oven and produce steam that helps create a light texture. Finally, we folded in tangy buttermilk and plenty of fresh blueberries. To avoid dirtying the kitchen counter and rolling and stamping out biscuits, we used our “pat-in-the-pan” biscuit method to shape the dough. This method calls for pressing the biscuit dough into an 8-inch square baking pan and cutting it into squares instead of traditional circles. After baking the biscuits, we brushed them with a lightly salted honey butter while they were still hot.