Lemon Buttermilk Biscuits with Birthday Strawberry Jam

My friend Meghan sent me a package for my birthday, and it was delivered to my doorstep a few days prior. It took all the willpower I could muster to wait until my actual birthday to open said package. I LOVE packages.  Suspense!  

So birthday day came, I tore open the USPS box and inside was this beautiful homemade, hand-picked (by none other than Meghan herself) strawberry jam!

Now that is a perfect birthday present.... edible AND adorable, in a fun mason jar nonetheless, all wrapped up in burlap and yarn.  

I'm going to start calling Meghan Creative-Christie from now on.

So of course I immediately had to use this jam.  But it had to be used on something worthy of it's greatness. 

I tossed a few ideas around in my now 30-year-old aging brain, and settled on biscuits; sweet-ish biscuits with lemon in them.  Commence drooling.  

Oh the insanity.

If we're really lucky, maybe Meghan will share her jam recipe with us!

The biscuits was adapted from Ree Drummond's biscuit recipe.

Printable recipe HERE.

Yields 12 biscuits  (I wrapped half of the biscuits in plastic wrap to save for a quick breakfast-on-the-go at a later date.)

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
5 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons salt
1 stick cold butter, cut into bits
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 heaping tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup melted butter
Fruit jam or preserves to spread on top

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt in a medium bowl.

Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter and shortening into the dry mixture until blended thoroughly.

Fold in the buttermilk and lemon zest with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together.

Divide the dough into two parts, and place one part onto a Silpat and use hands to press into a circle 1 to 1-1/2 inches thick. (I found the Silpat worked just as well as a floured surface, and was much easier to clean than bits of flour stuck all over my counter top.)

 

Cut out circles with a biscuit cutter or a glass (or a plastic Virginia Tech tailgating cup, if you're at all like me). 

 

Place the biscuits into cast-iron skillets, then brush the tops with the melted butter so they get golden brown and crispy. (Repeat with the second half of the dough.)

Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes. (You might want to turn your oven to broil for the last minute to get the tops extra golden brown.)