Awhile ago I posted “Cooking with Kefir.”
Since then I’ve been continuing to experiment with the uses of Kefir in the kitchen. The keyword here is experimenting, though recently I’ve had success with kefir biscuits.
The recipe I adapt is from Sean Brock’s cookbook Heritage. While you’ll have to purchase Heritage to get the exact recipe, you can use this recipe Brock shared with Outside Magazine in the meantime. Brock’s Heritage recipe is the first time I’ve heard of grating butter. It’s really effective and actually, oddly, kind of a fun twist to using a pastry cutter or butter knives.
For the batter I simply substitute plain kefir for the buttermilk and follow the rest of Brock’s recipe. As a note of warning, I do this with homemade kefir. I’m not sure how store bought brands would react because many of those have added sugar and/or flavoring. Still, if you find a brand that’s pretty naked, then go for it and leave me a comment to let me know how it goes!
I use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to shape the biscuits or a 1/2 cup measuring cup if I want them to be a little larger and thicker.
On the baking sheet I give them a couple inches of space, fitting about 12-15 depending on their size. Brock recommends parchment paper, but I like my biscuits to get a little crisp on the bottom so I butter the baking sheet.
Cook them until they get a nice golden brown and like any good biscuit recipe, enjoy one (or two) while they’re fresh. Much like the pancakes in “Cooking with Kefir,” I find that the biscuits have a bit of an extra tang which I especially enjoy with butter and honey or a runny egg.
The Frontier 