Butter swim biscuits…

Last Wednesday, when I was at my dance partner Kathleen’s house between belly dance classes, she showed me what she baked earlier that day. 

You guessed it, butter swim biscuits. She let me smell them, and I looked at them. They made my mouth water.

Within one minute, I found a gluten-free recipe almost identical to the conventional recipe she used. 

Friday morning, Marty’s birthday, I decided to make the biscuits. I failed. Dammit. I did everything correctly and knew I failed before putting them in the oven. 

The dough was described in the recipe as a moist dough. I had a soupy mess. Shit. I added more flour than the recipe called for just until it came together. I proceeded with the recipe.

As they baked, I thought I saved them. I let them cool as instructed. Then I tried serving them. The insides were gooey. I was pissed. We ate one each, but eating it wasn’t pleasant, and we needed salt big time.

The next day, I went on YouTube and watched Southern cooks turn out the most glorious butter swim biscuits, and there was no fussy shit.

I watched their technique and how they measured their flour by scooping a cup into it. I used to measure flour this way, and that’s why I failed.

When I follow gluten-free baking recipes, they are always more complicated than necessary. Every gluten-free blogger tries to up the others since they compete for how many subscriptions they have.

“You must not scoop when measuring your flour; you spoon the flour into the cup.” 

I follow the instructions if I want these gluten-free recipes to come out correctly. The next time I make the recipe, I cut out the bullshit extra steps and dishes.

The butter swim recipe I used had very few instructions for measuring the ingredients, followed by stirring it until a “moist dough” is formed.

There were no demo photos like most food blogs. Photos are extremely helpful, which is why I use them when I am writing a recipe.

I guess I back-seat drove the first time and measured my flour the “professional’ way. That was my mistake, silly Julz.

On Sunday morning, I needed to try making these butter whatamacallits again. Did I have to? Yes! I was still pissy; the first ones didn’t come out. I HATE wasting food and ingredients.

This time, I got to bake the way I used to, plunging the measuring cup right into the container of flour.

I added salt to the recipe, as all the Southern cooks did on YouTube. I was pleased with the outcome of the butter swim biscuits. They looked, tasted, and smelled like the ones I saw on YouTube.

After writing this, I know many people are shaking their heads and saying, “tisk tisk” at how bad these biscuits are for you since they are “swimming” in butter.

Butter swim biscuits use the same amount of butter or shortening as regular biscuits. These biscuits are a treat, not something you can eat daily unless you want to end up in a cath lab. 

Scones also use the same amount of butter, so I rarely make them. I believe food and eating should be thought of as “everything in moderation.

For example, if I want to eat a scone, biscuits and gravy, or high-fat items, I’d rather eat a small amount and be satisfied than make a low-fat version. Moderation.

So would I recommend making butter swim biscuits? Absolutely! They are also the easiest biscuits to make. 

We had the biscuits over three days with sausage gravy, preserves, and ham. They are so filling that you can only eat one, which helps when counting fat and cholesterol levels. 

I must admit I miss the days when I could buy pop & fresh biscuits and crack open that tube, like winding a jack in the box. Pop!

So, if you like dense, crunchy, and buttery af biscuits, these are for you! 

Just google butter swim biscuits, and a slew of recipes will come up, or go on YouTube and check out the southern cooks that helped me. 😊