YAWNING PORTAL BUTTERMILK BISCUITS - Heroes Feast

These unassuming buttermilk biscuits will melt in your mouth. Rumor has it that the esteemed Lady Alustriel Silverhand provided the Yawning Portal’s famed former-adventurer-turnedproprietor, Durnan, with her very own recipe for these savory, flaky cakes, now served by the basket “round the clock.” While the inn’s undisputed main attraction is the cavernous portal that descends straight into deadly Undermountain dungeon, these famed biscuits are a close second. Whether slathered with a softened rose-apple butter spread or graced with elderberry preserves or brackleberry jam, you can’t go wrong with this irresistible quick and easy human staple. And now you can make them in the warm confines of your own humble abode with this coveted recipe. Weary travelers (and excessive drinkers) take note: it is claimed that nothing helps shake off fatigue or an ale-induced hangover quite like one of Durnan’s made-to-order morningfeast biscuit sandwiches, composed of easy poached or scrambled eggs and your choice of freshly fried thick-cut ham or pork roll.

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% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan (preferably metal) with 1 tablespoon of the room-temperature butter, making sure to grease the corners and edges of the pan.

Step 2

Coarsely cut the 10 tablespoons chilled butter into ½-inch pieces and refrigerate until needed.

Step 3

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Add the chilled butter, toss the pieces in the dry mixture to coat them, and use your fingertips to break up and press the butter into pea-size pieces. Add the buttermilk and, with a sturdy spoon, stir to form a sticky dough with no pockets of dry ingredients remaining. Coat a flexible spatula with nonstick cooking spray and scrape the dough into the greased baking pan. Flour your hands generously and pat the dough into an even layer, making sure to push it into the corners and to the edges. Clean and coat the spatula again, if necessary, and score the dough into nine equal squares (two cuts in each direction, dividing the dough into three rows in each direction), reaching to the bottom of the pan as you score.

Step 4

Bake until the biscuits are deep golden brown on top, about 30 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees halfway through the baking time.

Step 5

Cool the biscuits in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove the biscuits from the pan and set them on a wire rack. Cut the remaining 1 tablespoon room-temperature butter into ½-inch pieces, put them on the surface of the biscuits, wait a moment for them to begin melting, and use a brush or the spatula to spread evenly over the biscuits. Cool the biscuits for about 12 minutes more, pull them apart, and serve warm.