Flaky Cinnamon Layered Biscuits

I promised you a Cinnamon Swirl Brioche recipe today, but I haven't quite nailed it down yet. I'm on my third batch and still working out the kinks, so I have another cinnamon-y recipe to share in its place!

I'm looking out at some serious snow this morning. Church was actually canceled!! This is more like the Colorado winters I remember!! The drifts are piling up against the garage doors, the snow is whirling in so many directions it's hard to tell if any is actually coming down, and our patio is slowly but surely filling up! A perfect day to stay inside and bake! Or it would be, if I wasn't out of flour from making brioche three times...

Flaky Cinnamon Layered Biscuits (adapted from Salad In a Jar)
Printable Recipe

2 cups flour
4 Tb sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
6 Tb cold butter
2 Tb shortening (you can use more butter if you don't have shortening)
¾ cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp sugar plus 2 tsp cinnamon for layers

coarse sugar and 1 Tb melted butter for the tops

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in the butter and shortening until pieces are no bigger than small peas. Add buttermilk and vanilla and stir until the dough mostly comes together. (You can also do all of these steps in a food processor)

Turn the dough and dry unincorporated bits out onto a well-floured surface. Knead about about 3-4 times until all the dough comes together. Shape dough into a square.

Roll the square of dough out about ½ inch thick. Brush/sprinkle the surface of the dough with a little bit of water, just to dampen it. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture over ⅔ of the dough.  

Fold the un-coated third of the dough over on top of the cinnamon layer, then fold the opposite third over the top (like folding a letter) 

Roll this rectangle out again until it is a little bit more than 1/2 inch thick, sprinkle on the rest of the cinnamon sugar, fold up like a letter again, then fold into thirds one more time. (you'll end up with a fat square)

Roll dough back out to a ½ inch thick square and cut into 12 squares with a sharp knife. 

Place the biscuits on prepared baking sheet, brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 5 minutes. Reduce temperature to 400 degrees and continue baking for another 12 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack and serve!

I am in LOVE with these biscuits! We ate them so fast the poor Geologist never got to try one. He loves cinnamon so much, I suppose I will just have to make them again!

They're barely, barely sweet, the tops get nice and crunchy (you can use this big decorating sugar on top, next time I'm going to try turbinado!) they're light and flakey as can be...

... And those gorgeous layers of cinnamon!! Isn't that beautiful?? Pretty, delicious, and easy! A new favorite of mine, definitely!

By the way, the biscuit recipe itself is a winner, if you wanted to skip the cinnamon sugar, they'd be fabulous plain as well!

I hope you give them a try! And if you're one of the states getting snowed in along with us, (and there are quite a few!) Stay warm and safe!

Shared at On the Menu Monday