100% Rye "Biscuits"

So I got this recipe for Soaked Whole Grain Buttermilk Biscuits, and decided to try them. Husband misses such things, and he was on his way home. As with most things I cook, I used the recipe as a starting place, and made a lot of changes.

Friday night I went to the store for buttermilk, but was horrified at what they put in it. I remembered that in the absence of buttermilk, you could "clabber" milk with lemon juice or vinegar, both of which I had at home, so I bought a quart of whole, organic milk. (A so-so choice. Read about healthy milk choices here.) I came home and opened Joy of Cooking, checked substitutions, and found they suggest yogurt as a buttermilk replacement. I guess the clabbered milk substitution was from the previous edition of Joy of Cooking (I have both, LOL). Anyway, I had some homemade raw milk yogurt on hand, so I used that instead of clabbered milk. I also didn't have any whole wheat flour in the freezer, but I did have some stone ground rye flour, so I used that. Since I was using rye flour, I added some caraway seeds and rosemary to the dough. The rest of the method I followed. I did roll the dough out and cut them out with a biscuit cutter that was my Mom's - maybe even my grandmother's. Using that made me happy, but I'm sure the biscuits would be just as good made as drop biscuits, as recommended in the original recipe.

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups stone-ground rye flour
½ cup cold butter
1 T caraway seeds
1 T dried rosemary
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon unrefined sea salt

Method:
Measure the whole grain flour into a bowl or better, into the bowl of a food processor or mixer. Add the cold butter, cut into chunks. Cut the butter into the flour, using two knives, or mix with the food processor or mixer  until the mixture resembles the texture of cornmeal. Mix in the caraway seeds and rosemary. Stir in the buttermilk or yogurt to form a thick dough. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and allow to sit on your counter overnight.

In the morning, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once the oven is preheated, knead baking soda and unrefined sea salt into the dough.

Flour your hands and gently form the biscuits either by rolling them out and cutting them out with a biscuit cutter, or drop them straight from the mixing bowl onto a baking sheet or preheated baking stone.

Bake the biscuits at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for about fifteen minutes, or until they puff up and become a golden brown color. I used a Pampered Chef baking stone, and I think I baked the rye biscuits for 20 minutes. They didn't really puff up, but I don't know if that is the heaviness of the rye, or if I should have used more baking soda. I will try using a skosh more baking soda next time.

Use a spatula to transfer the biscuits to a rack to cool slightly, then slather with pastured butter, and enjoy!