Petite Rosemary Biscuits

If you've read the Rosemary Infused Popcorn post from last week, then you already know that I have a super cute rosemary tree in my kitchen.  But what you probably don't know is that it's been calling out to me, challenging me to somehow incorporate it into our next meal (strange because it looks so quiet). In an effort to appease the tree, for at least another day, I baked these dainty little biscuits and served them with Shrimp with Garlic-Basil Butter.  I think they would also taste good with beef stew or on their own with butter or jam.  They're quick to make and extremely fragrant.

PETITE ROSEMARY BISCUITS

Yield: 12 biscuits

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced and chilled

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves

1/2 cup buttermilk, or as needed

1.      Preheat oven to 425º F.

2.      Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or a fork (or rub between your fingers), until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the rosemary. Stir in the 1 cup buttermilk a few tablespoons at a time. Knead the dough in the bowl just until it holds together, adding additional buttermilk, a tablespoon at a time, if the dough is too dry. Take care not to overwork the dough, or the biscuits will be tough rather than light and airy.

3.      On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough into a circle about 1/2-inch thick. Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 24 biscuits. You can gather up the scraps to roll out more biscuits, but they won't be quite as light.

4.      Place the biscuits on a large baking sheet. Bake until golden on top and lightly browned on the bottom, about 12 minutes.

Copyright by Emeril Lagasse.

in case you're wondering what "resembles coarse crumbs" means

cutting out the biscuits (mine were so small, I made about 18 instead of 12)

before baking