Cocoa Buttermilk Biscuits

On my birthday, I decided it would be the perfect day to make biscuits for breakfast ... Cocoa Buttermilk Biscuits with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Butter. I had found the recipe on How Sweet It Is and thought they sounded like cake without being called cake. I was right.

These are delicious, although they aren't quite as pretty as other versions of biscuits. They make up for their appearance with their taste.

Cocoa Buttermilk Biscuits

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425ºF. In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda, whisking until combined. Using a pastry blender, add butter pieces to the flour, and mix until coarse little crumbles remain. Add buttermilk and vanilla, stirring with a spoon until just combined, not overmixing. Use your hands if needed to bring the dough together.

Use  1/4 cup measure to drop batter onto a nonstick baking sheet, or press dough on a sheet of parchment paper or cutting board, then using a biscuit cutter to shape the dough into rounds. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until biscuits are set and slightly golden on the edges. Serve warm. Makes approximately 18 biscuits.

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Add all ingredients in a bowl, and smush until combined. This butter is amazingly delicious and tasty enough to lick from the spoon if no one is looking.