When I was little, the dinner combo was always the same: protein, vegetable, and rice. I didn’t exactly enjoy eating rice everyday, so I would take a very small amount and then flatten it to make it look like a regular portion. It worked, most of the time.
The only time I would take a heaping of rice was when a packet of furikake was mixed in. Furikake has the power to transform a bland bowl of rice into a savory, comforting meal. If you’re wondering what furikake is, furikake is a Japanese topping that typically consists of nori (dried seaweed), sesame seeds, dried fish, and more.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Buttery, flaky biscuits are perfectly fine on their own. But adding furikake to get that satisfyingly salty and savory flavor brings biscuits from ‘pretty good’ to ‘REALLY good’. Then add a touch of garlic for a boost of flavor, and you have a perfect breakfast right there.
I based these biscuits off of Bon Appetit’s buttermilk biscuits – my go-to biscuit recipe. These biscuits have a crisp outer shell with a fluffy inside that’s filled with buttery layers. They’re also extremely easy to make – in my recipe I freeze them overnight so in the morning all I have to do is simply brush them with butter, sprinkle on more furikake, and slide them into the oven.
tips for success
- Work fast (keep the butter cold) – Working fast to ensure the butter stays solid not only makes the dough easier to work with but also aids with creating those buttery, flaky layers. When butter is still in its solid form when put in the oven, the water in the butter will evaporate as the butter melts which creates small pockets of air that end up making those separate layers. If you find that the butter is melting and the dough is becoming hard to work with, simply put it in the fridge for a little bit.
- Be gentle – Overworking the dough develops the gluten which in turn makes the biscuits tougher instead of soft and tender.
- Use good-quality ingredients – This tip goes for practically any baked good, but biscuits don’t have many ingredients which makes this tip ever more important.
buttery & flaky furikake garlic biscuits
makes 6 biscuits | adapted from bon appetit’s buttermilk biscuits
ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cup (254 g) flour
- 3 tablespoons furikake
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cold
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk, cold
- 2 tbsp melted butter, for brushing
- furikake, for sprinkling
instructions:
- Grate the butter in a medium-sized bowl and leave in the fridge to stay cold while you get your dry ingredients together next.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, furikake, baking powder, kosher salt, sugar, garlic powder, and baking soda until well combined. Add the grated butter and toss together until the butter is well spread throughout.
- Add in the buttermilk, and mix with a fork until large clumps are formed. Knead the dough only a couple times until just nearly all together (be careful not to overmix – that would result in tough biscuits due to the gluten developing). Dump dough onto a floured surface, and pat into a one inch thick square.
- With a bench scraper, cut the square into four quarters, and stack the quarters on top of one another (this creates those flaky, buttery layers that truly make these biscuits drool-worthy). Flatten the stacked dough with your hands, and pat into a one inch thick square again. Trim the sides of the dough off to create straight edges (I don’t recommend re-rolling these scraps to make one more biscuit as it will result in a tough biscuit, but you could bake these scraps on their own for about 18 minutes at 400°F as little biscuit sticks).
- Cut into six equal pieces, and place the biscuits onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about two inches apart. Cover with plastic wrap. Freeze overnight – if you don’t want to freeze the biscuits overnight and instead make them now, freeze for only 10 minutes and then follow the instructions below, instead baking for 25 minutes as opposed to 28..
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Brush the biscuits with melted butter, and generously sprinkle the furikake on top. Right after placing the biscuits in the oven, reduce the temperature to 400°F. Bake for 28 minutes, until golden brown. Brush the biscuits once again with the leftover melted butter.
- Enjoy your warm, buttery biscuits!