Baking was my introduction to being on my own in the kitchen. There's something just so inherently satisfying about taking some very basic ingredients, mixing them together in a certain way, apply heat, and like magic, you have something delicious instead. It's like science you can eat. I don't bake as much anymore unless I know I'm having company over or will bring my treats to work to share, but these tea biscuits were the perfect vehicle for the Caramel Pear Butter Paige and I made last month. I try to use whole wheat at least in part whenever I bake to help offset the empty carb ratio. Either way, the whole wheat adds a nice "rustic" feel to the biscuits, and I added the walnuts which are a welcome crunch.
Recipe
Makes about 20 biscuits
Author: adapted from Joy of Cooking
Difficulty: easy
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup chopped raw walnuts
- 1/3 cup butter or shortening
- 1 cup sour cream or buttermilk
Directions
Whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut butter into dry ingredients until consistency of small crumbs. Stir in chopped walnuts. Stir in buttermilk with a fork, stirring just until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Knead gently and quickly, 8-10 times. Roll out with a lightly floured rolling pin to beween 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Cut into buscuits, and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450F until lightly browned, 12-15 minutes.
Step-by-Step Photos
I didn't have any buttermilk or sour cream on hand, so I just made some pseudo-buttermilk that is suitable for baking. Measure out one cup of milk, and add one teaspoon vinegar. Apparently apple cider vinegar can affect the taste (I didn't notice for this recipe), but white vinegar is perfect. Add the vinegar, give the milk a brief stir, and let sit until ready to add to the dry ingredients.
Add dry ingredients into a medium mixing bowl, and whisk together.
Add the butter, cold, and use a pastry blender or two knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it has a crumbly consistency.
Add the half cup of chopped walnuts, and stir to combine.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the buttermilk, which should have sat for long enough by now if you made it yourself.
Use a fork to stir the mixture just until combined and pulls away from the edges of the bowl. If you over-stir, you risk having tough-tasting biscuits, which is simply no good at all.
I hate fighting with the mess dough makes on bare counter tops, and I don't have a pastry mat. But I had an epiphany - and it turns out that a couple of placemats make for a great pastry mat in a pinch!
Dust your workspace with flour and dump the dough out on to the flour. Briefly knead the dough, folding it over and pushing the fold into the dough, turning the dough over as you go, about 8-10 times.
Dust a rolling pin (or empty wine bottle with the label scrubbed off) with flour and roll the dough out into an approximate rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.
I don't have any cookie cutters, so I used a mason jar ring to cut out the biscuits. It ended up working perfectly.
Using a cookie cutter or mason jar ring, firmly press out the biscuits from the dough. Remove the formed biscuits, and briefly knead the leftover dough and repeat the above steps to fully utilize the dough to get another round of biscuits from it. I personally only did it once, but if you are feeling particularly ambitious you can probably get 3 sets of biscuits from the dough.
Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper and lay out the biscuits.
Bake in a preheated oven at 450F for 12-15 minutes. If baking with two trays at a time, switch their positions in the over half way through baking time. Cool biscuits on a wire rack, if available.
Serve plain, or with butter, jam, or preserves. I gobbled mine down with that delicious caramel pear butter, pictured here.
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