Hey guys, welcome to a new segment of the Fed where we share recipes that are near and dear to our hearts. You see, I always wanted to be a good blogger but I never had the opportunity. The Fed is such an amazing and supportive environment and I just knew that it would be the best paper to share my deepest and darkest secrets with the guise of a beloved campus food.
My story with Ferris biscuits started when I was 5 years old, wandering the streets of Morningside Heights. I had lost my mother (read my next recipe for Hewitt Butternut Squash for more details on what happened) when suddenly a mysterious Columbia College student noticed me on the side of the road. She approached me, and I remember her exact outfit — a striped beanie, leather jacket with silver embellishments on the sleeve, red corduroy pants, and Doc Martens. Her name was Kate, and she introduced me to the best type of bread that I have ever tasted in my life.
It had been approximately 3 hours since I had lost my mother and I was starving. She knew that I needed a warm embrace, and boy did I receive one. The first bite of my first ever Ferris biscuit was the most life changing cheddar-y, moist-yet-crumbly, savory little ball of dough. The recipe is as follows:
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour — no need for self rising flour, but you’re a self rising individual! The most heart breaking part of this recipe is that I became gluten intolerant before my first year at Columbia and have been unable to enjoy the taste of a Ferris biscuit again. Sometimes I will sniff them just to remember what my first Columbia day was ever like, and to reconnect with my dear friend Kate. I have found that gluten free flour just doesn’t create the same consistency in the biscuit.
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Salt
- Cold butter — once I almost caused a fire when I went to melt some butter and accidentally put a non microwavable plate in my suite microwave. Because of this traumatizing memory, I tend to avoid melted butter in my recipes.
- Cold buttermilk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450.
- Combine everything except for the buttermilk. Do not overmix.
- Make a hole in the center of the batter and pour the buttermilk. Mix until sticky.
- Add flour to surface. Fold dough 6-8 times. Do not overwork the dough. You wouldn’t want to overwork yourself! Sometimes life at Columbia University is difficult, the stress culture and competitive atmosphere inevitably makes you overwork yourself. It’s a shame that when I was 5 I didn’t truly understand what being at an Ivy League would be like. It’s not always as charming.
- Shape into 1” thick flat round. Cut dough into nine rounds.
- Bake for 13-15 mins.
- Enjoy!
