Griswold 946 Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
Small-batch buttermilk drop biscuits with crusty cast iron bottoms and craggy tops. Sized for 8 biscuits baked in a Griswold #946 cast iron gem pan (8 shallow flat-bottomed cups, ~6cm diameter × 1.9cm deep). Scales easily for a standard muffin tin or sheet pan.
- Yield: 8 biscuits (~40g each)
- Active time: 10 minutes
- Total time: ~45 minutes
- Oven: 425°F
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 150 g |
| Baking powder | 6 g |
| Baking soda | 2 g |
| Fine sea salt | 2 g |
| Sugar | 6 g |
| Salted butter, cold and cubed | 45 g |
| Buttermilk, cold | 130 ml |
| Melted salted butter, for greasing pan and brushing tops | 20 g |
Method
-
Preheat oven and pan. Place the empty Griswold #946 (or whatever pan you're using) on the middle rack and preheat the oven to 425°F. Let the pan heat for at least 15 minutes after the oven hits temp — you want the cups ripping hot when the dough hits.
-
Whisk dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar until evenly combined.
-
Cut in butter. Add the cold cubed butter to the dry mixture. Cut in with a pastry blender, two forks, or your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse meal with some pea-sized butter chunks remaining. Work fast so the butter stays cold.
-
Add buttermilk. Pour in the cold buttermilk and stir gently with a fork or spatula until just combined into a shaggy, sticky dough. Do not overmix — a few dry streaks are fine. The dough should be wet enough to scoop but not pourable.
-
Grease the hot pan. Pull the screaming-hot pan from the oven. Working quickly, brush each cup generously with melted butter. It should sizzle and smoke a little — that's good.
-
Portion the dough. Using a #20 disher or two spoons, drop roughly 40g portions into each of the 8 cups. The dough will mound slightly above the rim — that's correct. Don't smooth the tops; the craggy look is the point.
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Bake. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the tops are deeply golden and the bottoms have a crusty mahogany sear, 14–17 minutes. Rotate the pan once at the halfway point.
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Rest and turn out. Let the biscuits rest in the pan for 2–3 minutes — this lets them set up so they release cleanly. Run a small offset spatula or butter knife around each cup, then pop them out. Brush the tops with any remaining melted butter while warm.
Notes
Buttermilk: older/tangier buttermilk actually improves flavor and reacts more vigorously with the baking soda. Great recipe for using up the last of a carton.
Serving: best within an hour of baking. If you have leftovers, split and toast them in a dry skillet to revive the crust.
Variations:
- Cheddar-pepper: add 30g grated sharp cheddar + a pinch of black pepper to the dry mix.
- Herb: fold in 8g finely chopped fresh chives or thyme at the buttermilk step.