Whole Wheat Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits recipe - delish!

     I've been using whole wheat pastry flour in our biscuits here at home for several years now, trying to incorporate more fiber and whole wheat goodness into our meals.

     The problem is, while not as dense as using regular whole wheat flour, they are still dense, crumbly, and they don't rise very high.  And, Elmer and the girls really prefer the "olden days" when I made our baked goods with regular white flour.

     Until tonight!

     I tried a new-to-me recipe using a combination of whole wheat flour AND whole wheat pastry flour, and these new biscuits were light and fluffy - and delicious!

     Elmer even complimented me on them and asked if it was a new recipe.  He and the girls were surprised to hear that there was no white flour in the biscuits.  They loved 'em and came back for seconds!  That's a nice change of pace.  :)

     This is how our biscuits have usually turned out over the last few years:

• dense
• difficult to slice open
• short and squatty
• crumbly
• not all that tasty

So, are you getting hungry yet?

     You'll need to probably buy an extra ingredient (cream cheese) before you plan to make these, unless you normally have it on hand.  Also, plan to start making these a bit ahead of time for dinner.  They cook longer than other biscuit recipes, and then they need to cool a bit before serving.  I think you're gonna love these as much as we did!

     Oh, and I think the next time I make these, I'll substitute solidified coconut oil for the cream cheese, just to see how the taste differs.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits
(makes 14 biscuits)

• 6 Tbsp. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" pieces (I used salted, and it was fine, too)
• 1.5 oz. light or regular cream cheese (about 3 Tbsp.), cut into 1/2" pieces
• 2 cups (10 oz.) all-purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour/white whole wheat flour)
• 1 cup (5.5 oz.) whole-wheat flour
• 4 tsp. sugar (or evaporated cane juice sugar)
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1-1/4 cups buttermilk (or 1 Tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar mixed with almost 1-1/4 cups milk)

     Place the cubed butter and cream cheese on a plate and freeze until the cream cheese is solid, about 1 hour or less (do not overfreeze).  Meanwhile, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

      Pulse the flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a food processor to combine (about 3 pulses).  Scatter the frozen butter and cream cheese cubes over the top and continue to pulse/mix until the mixture looks like coarse meal, about 15 pulses or so.

     Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.  Stir in the buttermilk with a spatula until the dough comes together.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead until just smooth and no longer shaggy, 8-10 times.  Pat the dough into a 9-inch circle, about 3/4" thick.  (Or, the quicker way is to pat dough into a rectangle or square, keeping the dough 3/4" thick.  Then, cut into squares with a knife so there are no leftover pieces of dough that need to be squished together to form that last funny-looking biscuit!)  Otherwise, cut dough with round biscuit cutter or clean tin can or glass.

     Place biscuits upside-down onto the prepared baking sheet, spaced 1.5" apart.  Bake 5 minutes.  Rotate the baking sheet and reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees.  Continue to bake until the tops and bottoms of the biscuits are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes longer.  Do not underbake these biscuits or they will taste slightly gummy.  Check for doneness by checking the bottom of a biscuit; it should be golden brown. 

     Transfer baked biscuits to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Does this sound like something your family would eat?  If you bake these in your home, let me know what you think, okay?

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