How to Make Pepper Biscuits

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: January 8, 2021 References

Pepper biscuits are a great alternative to the classic butter biscuit. Loaded with black pepper, pepper biscuits are fluffy and slightly savory, great eaten hot out of the oven or at room temperature. Make a classic biscuit and grits meal, or enjoy a pepper biscuit with a cup of coffee in the morning for a buttery, crumbly treat with a slight kick.

Ingredients

4 cups (946.36 ml) all purpose flour
4 teaspoons (19.72 ml) baking powder
1 teaspoon (4.93 ml) baking soda
1 teaspoon (4.93 ml) salt
1 ½ sticks chilled unsalted butter
1 ½ cups (354.89 ml) chilled buttermilk
½ cup (118.3 ml) heavy cream
2 tablespoons (29.57 ml) coarsely ground black pepper

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:
Blending the Ingredients

1
Preheat the oven. Turn the oven on to 450 degrees, and wait for it to preheat completely. While you are waiting, prepare the biscuit dough to give the oven enough time to preheat.^{[1]
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2
Blend the dry ingredients in a food processor. Pour the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse the ingredients by briefly pressing the pulse button twice so that the ingredients get mixed.^{[2]
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- If you don’t have a food processor, stir the dry ingredients with a large spoon until they are mixed.
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3
Cut the butter into small cubes. Take the sticks of butter and unwrap them, then cut them into cubes about a half an inch long (1 ½ centimeters). Cutting the butter into small pieces instead of melting it will make your biscuits fluffy as opposed to dense.^{[3]
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- Try to use cold as opposed to room temperature butter. Cold butter makes the best biscuits because when the butter melts in the oven, it separates the flour into “layers”, which makes the biscuit tender and flaky.
4
Add the butter gradually to the food processor and pulse. Start to sprinkle the butter cubes into the food processor, pulsing every now and then as you add more. When you have finished adding the butter, pulse once more to make sure that the ingredients are blended.^{[4]
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- The mixture should look coarse but blended. Some chunks of butter are ok.
- Don’t over-mix in the food processor, as this can heat up and melt the butter.
- If you don’t have a food processor, use a sharp knife to dice the butter into smaller chunks, then add the butter and hand stir the mixture.
5
Add the buttermilk. Pour in the buttermilk and pulse the food processor until just blended. Again, don’t over-mix the dough in the food processor because this can change the consistency of the biscuits.^{[5]
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- If you don’t have a food processor, pour in the buttermilk gradually while stirring.
6
Knead the dough. Take the dough and place in on a counter or cutting board. Use your hands to turn the dough over on itself and knead it gently for about ten seconds. Knead a couple of times until the dough is shaggy and cohesive. Be careful not to over-handle.^{[6]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:
Forming the Biscuits

1
Flour a counter or a large cutting board. Spread a layer of flour onto a counter or a large cutting board. Use your hands to spread the flour and even out its surface.^{[7]
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2
Make the dough into a rough rectangle on the floured surface. Scoop the dough out of the food processor and place it into the floured surface. Use your hands to shape the dough into a rectangle that is about ¾ - 1 inch (2-3 cm) thick. Again, make sure not to over-handle the dough.^{[8]
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3
Cut out the biscuits. Use a cookie cutter or a knife to cut the dough into circular shapes that are about three inches wide (7.6 cm). If you prefer your biscuits in a different shape like a triangle or rectangle, cut them accordingly.
4
Form the leftover dough into biscuits. Take the scraps left over from the dough and shape them into biscuits. You may only have enough for one, or you may be able to make several biscuits out of the leftover dough.^{[9]
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:
Baking and Serving the Biscuits

1
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper, then arrange the biscuits on top. Make sure that there is at least an inch of space between the biscuits and that none are overlapping.^{[10]
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2
Brush the biscuits with cream and top with pepper. Use a pastry brush to brush cream over the top of each biscuit. Distribute the cream equally so each biscuit gets an even coating. Then sprinkle the coarsely ground black pepper over the top of each biscuit.^{[11]
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- The cream makes the biscuits richer and less dry, and also helps the pepper stick to the top of each biscuit.
3
Bake the biscuits for 15-18 minutes. Place the tray with the biscuits into the preheated oven and wait 15 minutes. After fifteen minutes, poke a biscuit with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, the biscuit is done baking. Take the biscuits out of the oven with an oven mitt.
- If the toothpick comes out with crumbs of biscuit on it, keep testing every minute until it comes out clean.^{[12]
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4
Cool the biscuits for 15 minutes. Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack and let them sit for 15 minutes. A cooling rack ensures that all parts of the biscuit cool at the same rate, so that the texture and consistency are the same throughout.^{[13]
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5
Serve the biscuits while still warm or at room temperature. After fifteen minutes, the biscuits are ready to be served. Serve them immediately while warm, or wait until they have cooled if you prefer.
- You can eat the biscuits on their own, top them with gravy, or make them part of a larger meal like an Eggs Benedict.
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