I didn't really have a plan for breakfast this morning. And then I slept in. So I woke up and groggily started casting about in my cookbooks looking for inspiration. In the end, it came down to French toast, muffins, or these biscuits. And the biscuits appealed to us more, so biscuits it was!

These are very easy to throw together (assuming that you have the bacon already cooked and ready to hand). And they have a lot of leavener in them, so they come out very light. They're not my favourite biscuits, but they're quite good nonetheless.

I think, if I were doing them again, I might reduce the oven temperature slightly. I baked these ones at 230°C (450°F) like the recipe called for. And they were good. But the bottoms got a bit darker than I would have liked. So I'm thinking that I might try dropping the temperature down to 220°C (425°F) next time.

Bacon and Cheese Drop Biscuits

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfasts by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 250g all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 5 Tbsp. butter
• 1 c. grated cheddar
• 2-4 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
• 1 c. buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
2. Combine flour, sugar, and salt.
3. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda.
4. Cut in butter.
5. Mix in the cheese and bacon.
6. Pour in the buttermilk and stir to combine.
7. Drop generous tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto an ungreased baking sheet.
8. Bake at 220°C (425°F) until done (~12 minutes).
9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

I actually didn't make the "base" version of this recipe. I did one of the variations. I debated how to write that up. Do I just write up the variation that I did as a stand-alone recipe? Do I write it up as the main part of the post, but then include the "base" recipe as a variation? Or do I follow the same pattern as in the cookbook and keep the base recipe as the main part of the post?

Ultimately, I decided on that last approach. So, if you are following the instructions for the recipe as it appears in the main body of this post, keep in mind that I have not actually made it that way yet. I'm sure it's fine. I just can't, personally, vouch for it.

Basic Baking Powder Biscuits

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfasts by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 250g flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 5 Tbsp. butter
• 3/4 c. milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
2. Sift the baking powder into the flour.
3. Add the sugar and salt and stir to combine.
4. Cut in the butter.
5. Mix in the milk with a fork or wooden spoon.
6. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 30-60 seconds.
7. Pat into a shape ~1cm thick.
8. Use a glass or biscuit cutter to cut out circles.
9. Gather and reroll the scraps, cutting as many more biscuits as possible.
10. Place on baking sheet and bake until done (~12 minutes).

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Variations

Basic Drop Biscuits

Ingredients

• 250g flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 5 Tbsp. butter
• 1 c. milk

Directions

1. Mix as directed above.
2. Do not knead or roll.
3. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto the baking sheet.
4. Bake as directed.

Basic Flavoured Biscuits

Directions

1. Make biscuits as directed above, but sprinkle tops with a little sugar, Parmesan, paprika, or other seasoning of your choice before baking.

Basic Square Biscuits

Directions

1. Make the biscuit dough as directed above.
2. Once the dough has been rolled or patted into a relatively flat shape, cut it into 5cm squares (rather than circles). This will avoid any scraps or the need to reroll.

Basic Dessert Biscuits

Ingredients

• 250g flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 5 Tbsp. butter
• 3/4 c. milk

I usually make shaped scones and biscuits. But I was low on both time and counter space yesterday, so I decided to give these simple "drop scones" a try. The dough is very quick to toss together and then all it needs is for mounds of it to be spooned onto the baking sheet and a few minutes in the oven and you have nearly-instant scones!

The original recipe calls for a bit of sugar, but I decided to roll with an erythritol-based sweetener in order to make them sugar-free. Either one works fine. I also opted to omit the salt from the recipe and just use salted butter instead of the unsalted that the recipe called for. And, since I'm in NZ right now, I swapped out the all-purpose (moderate-protein) flour for plain (soft/low-protein) flour. In other cases, I might use "high grade" (hard/high-protein) flour as a closer equivalent to the all-purpose, but in the case of scones and biscuits, where you don't really want or need the gluten development anyway, I felt like soft flour would be the better choice.

Blueberry Drop Scones

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 250g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1/4 sugar¹
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 85g salted butter
• 1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries (thawed if frozen)
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 c. milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
2. Combine the flour and sugar.
3. Sift in baking powder and mix well.
4. Cut in the butter until blended.
5. Add the blueberries and toss to combine.
6. Beat the egg into the milk and then add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix with a fork until just combined.
7. Spoon mounds of the dough onto a baking sheet. You should get ~12 scones.
8. Optionally sprinkle the top of each scone with a little extra sugar.
9. Bake at 220°C (425°F) until cooked through and just starting to brown (~12 minutes).
10. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

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¹ Feel free to swap this out for a sugar-free sweetener of your choice. Just make sure that you adjust the amount accordingly if it's not a 1:1 substitute. ^Back

I forgot to take photos of these! They were so cute. And now they are all gone. Whoops!

Oh well... They just looked like a pretty standard, plain, flaky biscuit. I just wish I'd remembered to photograph them. They were nice. Fairly plain, but soft, buttery, and not too sweet, with just a hint of citrus from the lemon zest in them. Really lovely.

Lemon-Scented Biscuits

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 250g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt¹, ground (optional)
• 1/2 Tbsp. lemon zest²
• 70g butter
• 3/4 c. half-and-half (10% MF)³

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
2. Sift the baking powder in to the flour.
3. Add the sugar, salt (if using), and lemon zest and mix well.
4. Cut butter into dry ingredients until blended.
5. Add half-and-half and stir until just mixed.
6. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and press into a round 2-3cm thick.
7. Fold in quarters and press flat again. Repeat 2-3 more times.
8. Use a biscuit cutter or drinking glass to cut into 5-6cm circles. (You should get about a dozen.)
9. Place on an ungreased baking sheet.
10. If desired, brush with a little milk and sprinkle with sugar.³
11. Bake until just starting to colour on top (~12 minutes).

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¹ If using salted butter, omit the salt here. If using unsalted butter, you may wish to add a small amount of salt. They don't need much, but a little pinch can be nice. ^Back
2 The original recipe only calls for 1 tsp. of lemon zest and that's what I used this time, but I think it would've been nice with a bit more, so I've upped it slightly here. ^Back
3 I usually mix my own half-and-half by combining whipping (35%) cream and milk. For this one, I decided to go a little light on the cream and heavy on the milk: more of a 1/3-to-2/3 than 1/2-and-1/2. ^Back
4 The original recipe didn't call for this step and I didn't do it this time around. But, having tasted them, I think they'd be quite nice with a little sprinkle of sugar on top. ^Back

I haven't been baking much bread lately. Or really doing much baking full stop. Which means the sourdough starter has been getting increasingly hungry and acidic in the fridge. I could bake bread with it, but the way I tend to do bread means that I would only use a tiny portion of it. The rest would still be in the fridge. Hungry. So I figured the first thing to do is probably make some sort of quick bread or cake that will allow me to use up a bunch of discard. Once the remaining starter's been fed a few times and is looking little happier and more lively, I can get to the bread.

I have plenty of sourdough discard recipes already. Including some very nice sourdough biscuits. But what can I say? I like trying new things! So I decided to go prowling through the King Arthur website again and see what they had that looked good. And these onion biscuits seemed just the thing.

I think the only thing I'd change if I were to make these again is to add maybe 1 Tbsp. of water to the dough. The biscuits were delicious, but I think the dough could've used just a hint more moisture. I might also consider adding some grated or diced Cheddar cheese. Cheese and onion is such a good combination. I think some old Cheddar would be really excellent in these biscuits!

Caramelized Onion Sourdough Biscuits

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Baking

Ingredients

Onion

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 onion, halved and sliced thin

Biscuits

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, chilled
• 2-3 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives¹
• 225g sourdough discard (unfed starter)
• 1 Tbsp. water (optional)

Dircections

Onion

1. Melt butter over medium-low heat.
2. Add sugar and onion and cook, covered, for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Biscuits

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F) and grease a baking sheet.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt and mix well.
3. Cut in butter.
4. Add chives, cooled onion, and starter and mix until just combined.
5. If the dough is not quite coming together, add the water. It should be fairly dry and only just cohesive (or even not quite cohesive).
6. Dump onto a floured surface and press flat.
7. Fold in half and press flat again.
8. Repeat previous step four or five times pressing to a thickness of 2-3cm after the last fold.
9. Cut out circles of desired size (5-7cm works well) and transfer to prepared baking sheet.
10. Combine scraps, fold and press once more, and cut out a couple more circles.
11. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 15 minutes.
12. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

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¹ Whoops! Just realized I forgot the chives. Oh well... still delicious! ^Back

These are light and flaky and wonderful. There's a tiny hint of sweetness from the small amount of sugar in, but not enough that they really register as "sweet". They're mostly buttery and tender with slight undercurrents of buttermilk tartness, sourdough tang, and that little bit of sweetness from the sugar.

I was tempted to go for a whole wheat biscuit, but I decided to make them recipe as written the first time 'round. I do like the white flour version. For something this fatty and unhealthy, white flour just feels like the right choice. That said, I think you could probably sub in some whole wheat flour and still have a nice biscuit. I'd be inclined to use a hard whole wheat flour in place of the all-purose and toss in an extra 2-3 Tbsp. of buttermilk. I think that would probably work decently well.

Sourdough Biscuits

Slightly adapted from Baking Sense

Ingredients

• 280g all-purpose flour
• 240g soft (cake/plain/standard) flour
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 c. unsalted butter
• 250g unfed sourdough starter (sourdough discard)
• 1 c. buttermilk + extra for brushing tops

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt and mix well.
3. Cut in butter until mixture is sandy with a few larger chunks.
4. Combine starter and buttermilk and mix well.
5. Pour buttermilk mixture into flour mixture and stir until not quite combined.
6. Turn out dough and mix by hand/kneading until dry ingredients are incorporated. It shouldn't take more than half a dozen strokes.
7. Pat into a rectangle about 1-1.5cm thick.
8. Fold in half and pat down a little. Then fold in half again.
9. Pat into a 2cm thick disc.
10. Cut out circles about 7-8cm in diameter and place on baking sheet, rerolling dough as necessary.
11. Brush tops with a little milk or buttermilk.
12. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 12-14 minutes.

This Cook's Country recipe emerged from a desire to make a biscuit recipe that compromised a bit on quality in order to gain a lot of speed -- which mainly means that instead of rolling out the dough and cutting it to get flaky biscuits, you press it into the pan to get fluffy ones.

To symbol, this is not a good tradeoff. In their estimation the flakiness is the entire point of biscuits, and if they aren't flaky, why bother? For my part, though, I find these quite tasty in their own right, and the rolling and cutting is the part I like least about making biscuits, so it's actually a pretty good deal.

Pat-in-the-Pan Buttermilk Biscuits

Cook's Country

Ingredients

• 1 + 1 + 10 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 c. cake flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 c. buttermilk, chilled

Directions

1. Put 10 Tbsp. of the butter in the freezer to chill for ~15 minutes.
2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 450°F.
3. Grease an 8" square baking pan with 1 tablespoon of butter.
4. Leave the remaining 1tbsp out to soften.
5. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
6. Add chilled butter and smash between your fingertips into pea-sized pieces.
7. Gently stir in buttermilk until no dry pockets remain.
8. Using spatula, transfer dough to greased pan.
9. Flour your hands and pat the dough into an even layer and into the corners of the pan.
10. Using an oiled dough scraper, cut into 9 equal squares, but do not separate.
11. Bake until golden brown on top, ~30 minutes.
12. Let cool for 5 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack, brush with melted butter, and let stand for 10 minutes.
13. Pull apart and serve.

I wanted something to do while waiting for the cracked wheat to soak for my bread, so I decided to make cookies. Edmonds recommends filling these sandwich cookies with either chocolate buttercream or ganache. I'm sure they'd be fine with the buttercream, but between the two, it's really no contest: Ganache is far and away the winner for me!

Edmonds ganache recipe calls for butter whereas I'm used to making ganache with just chocolate and heavy cream. I decided to go the two-ingredient route and try whipping it as suggested by America's Test Kitchen when using ganache as a filling or frosting. I had to run out to pick up the kidlet from school after preparing it and it got a bit colder and stiffer than I would've liked, but overall I think the whipped ganache worked well.

The mixed spice in the cookie dough was really nice. I think it'd be fun to try adding different flavours to the ganache as well. Or maybe swapping out the mixed spice in the dough for other flavours. It might be fun to experiment with ground almonds and/or almond extract in the dough or amaretto in the ganache. Mint, ginger, cherry, hazelnut, or orange would also be interesting.

Chocolate Cream Biscuits

From Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 75g salted butter, softened
• 125g sugar
• 1 egg
• 175g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. mixed spice
• 2 Tbsp. cocoa
• 1/2 recipe chocolate ganache

Directions

1. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in egg.
3. Sift in flour, baking powder, mixed spice, and cocoa.
4. Mix to form a stiff dough.
5. Wrap in parchment paper or plastic wrap and chill for at least 10 minutes.
6. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 4mm thickness.
7. Cut out circles¹, re-rolling as needed.
8. Place biscuits on a greased (or parchment-lined) baking tray and bake at 375°F (190°C) for 10-12 minutes.
9. Remove from oven, but leave on tray for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool.
10. Cool completely before filling.
11. Spread (or pipe) ganache onto half the biscuits.
12. Place another biscuit on top to make a sandwich.

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¹ Use whatever size circles you prefer. I went with a 4.75cm cutter and ended up with 48 biscuits (24 once they were sandwiched together with the ganache). ^Back

This is just the basic scone recipe out of Edmonds. Very simple and easy to put together and I really like the results. Nice and tender and buttery. They remind me of a slightly less flaky buttermilk biscuit.

The recipe calls for "butter" which, in NZ, generally means salted butter as far as I can tell. It also calls for an additional 1/4 tsp. of salt. I contemplated leaving the salt out since I was already using salted butter, but decided to do it recipe as written for now to see how they came out. The salt was definitely noticeable, but I actually quite liked it. That said, if I were to do one of the sweet variations in the future -- date scones, sultana scones, or ginger scones -- I definitely think I'd skip the extra salt. I might even leave it out for the cheese scone variation since the cheese itself will add extra salt. And, although I like the saltiness of the basic scones, I think that it would've been too much had I also been putting salted butter on them. Given that, I'd probably leave the salt out in future and just put a bit of salted butter on them if I wanted that extra hit of sodium.

Scones

From Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 3 c. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 5 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt (optional)
• 75g salted butter
• 1 1/4 c. milk
• extra milk, for glazing

Directions

1. Grease and flour a baking sheet.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt (if using).
3. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.
4. Pour in milk and quickly mix with a spatula or round-bladed knife until mixture is just wet. Do not over-mix or gluten will start to develop and make the scones tough.
5. Scrape dough onto baking sheet, flour top, and pat into a large rectangle about 2cm high.
6. Cut into 12 equal portions¹.
7. Separate the scones so that they each have a couple cm of space between them.
8. Brush the tops with milk.
9. Bake at 450°F (220°C) for 10 minutes.
10. Any scones that are not eaten immediately should be wrapped in a clean cloth to keep them soft.

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¹ I accidentally cut mine into 24 portions. They still baked up well and tasted great. They were just mini scones. ^Back