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Friday, April 22, 2011

Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits

I made Caramel! last night, and this stuff is so good I keep dipping my finger in it for more! It's more of a sauce than a candy, so I decided that I had to have something to put it on. To that end, I decided to make cinnamon raisin biscuits this morning with breakfast (which was sausage and eggs).

I know I could have used an official recipe, and honestly I probably unintentionally used an official recipe, but I am one of those that cooks by tossing things in a bowl, and stirring. So I started with about 2 cups Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour and sprinkled it with a light layer of Aluminum Free Baking Powder (note: that is a link showing the product I used, I actually bought it at my grocery store, just one canister for about 2.00).

On top of that, I cracked 2 eggs, and poured in some farm fresh milk. Not sure how much, 1/2 a cup? 3/4ths a cup? I poured until it looked right. You could always start out small, and add to it. I stirred, and added a stick of softened cultured butter. The mix looked sticky and wet, but much like cookie dough, so I knew it would make a pretty good biscuit.

I then sprinkled a little Organic Sugar (note, I buy mine at my local health food store for about 2.00 a pound) on it, followed by some Organic Cinnamon and then the raisins(cheapie store brand organic ones). My preferences are not much for sugar, I probably didn't use even 1/4 a cup, though it was close. The cinnamon probably equaled a tablespoon, and the raisins... I like a LOT so I used at least a 1/2 a cup, maybe even closer to a cup. Most people probably would have used half, but I just kept adding until I liked it, lol!

Once I had mixed it all together, and tasted to make sure it wasn't bitter, (as I read this I realize that I forgot salt to react with the baking powder, oops!). Then I plopped it onto an aluminum foil, and baked at 425 for about 25 minutes. In my toaster oven, in a real oven, I would have baked at 350 for about the same amount of time. I made 12 silver dollar sized biscuits, and have enough mix left over for about 4 more.

Once the biscuits were done, I spread some caramel on them..... I am still floating on cloud nine, sigh! A note about density. These biscuits were pretty dense, so if you are used to light and fluffy ones, these will be a disappointment. I think that if I decide to make them again, I will probably add some salt, and another egg at the very least to make them rise and get fluffy. On the other hand, these would make a great toasted english-like muffin. I could easily cut them in half, toast them, and add butter rather than the caramel sauce.

It's all about playing with your food :-D

5 comments:

  1. Baking powder causes things to rise from the reaction between the acid and the base in its ingredients. Salt is neutral, so it won't do much to help that reaction (though I was taught flour recipes always need salt to improve the flavour). Adding more acid, like using butter-milk (kefir, yoghurt, ...) will help the rise. With not measuring, though, you may've just not added enough baking powder :-)

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  2. I thought about adding some kefir for that exact reason, but I was also in the middle of starting a new batch of Kombucha, and juggling one more jar at the moment was beyond my capabilities, lol! I let the last little bit sit out, I figured it might have some time to rise a bit, but lo-and-behold, by the time I got back to it, it had mysteriously disappeared from the bowl, lol!

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  3. Sounds like you've got (two-legged) mice...

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  4. I found this page about the baking powder you're using:

    https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/food_storage/rumford_baking_powder.htm

    "... somewhat faster acting than typical double-acting baking powders. You'll still see a boost of leavening in the oven, but most of the reaction occurs in the mixing bowl. While this makes a more delicate crumb structure in the finished product, do not dawdle. Work quickly for best results.

    ... Rumford Baking Powder is equal to double acting baking powders and is fast acting. In fact, for some people's liking maybe too fast. Two-thirds of Rumford's reaction takes place in your mixing bowl. The other 1/3 takes place in the oven. The reason most baking powders use bitter tasting sodium aluminum sulfate (which Rumford doesn't have) is because this element delays to a minimum the reaction between the water and the powder until it goes into the oven. (More about this later...) When using Rumford Baking Powder, mix all your dry ingredients together, then add your wet ingredients at the end. Don't stir your batter more than necessary after adding the water. Further mixing will have a tendency to stir out some of the forming carbon dioxide bubbles created between the baking powder and the water in your batter. So, without spending more time than necessary, stir the batter until smooth, put it into the pan and bake it immediately."

    So I'm thinking if you left it longer it would go past it's prime. This piece also states that it is the 'sodium aluminum sulfate' in other powders that makes them bitter (you checked the mix for bitterness).

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  5. Thanks Tas! It's true, I usually think baking powder is bitter, and have noticed that this isn't. You are always a wealth of information :-)

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