Rosemary yogurt biscuits

The past few weeks have been crazy at work. I haven't had much time for anything else, so I was determined to spend most of the weekend in the kitchen away from the computer. I wanted to prep for the week, so I would have healthy snacks and lunches ready to go. I made almond butter, red beans for tacos, beets with ginger & orange, pickled carrots, granola bars, yogurt cheese, and a big veggie stir fry with rice. Whew. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time washing dishes too.

I made these rosemary yogurt biscuits for breakfast yesterday. They were perfect on a cold Sunday morning. I had a few friends (via instagram) ask for the biscuit recipe, so here it is.

This recipe was adapted from Heidi's yogurt biscuits from Super Natural Everyday. I dog-eared the recipe when I received the cookbook last year for my birthday. I had forgotten about it until I was flipping through the book on Saturday night. I decided they were just the comforting breakfast I needed. Being from the South, biscuits are more than just breakfast, they remind me of being a kid. Two older ladies, Grace and Katherine, watched my siblings and I when we were very young. Every meal was homemade and from the garden, and there were always hot biscuits on the table. My biscuits are a little different from what Grace and Katherine would have made, but I think they would approve.

I love adding herbs and spices to savory baked goods and breads. It's a great way to get an extra dose of goodness (vitamins & minerals) in your meals. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs, especially in the winter months. Plus it has a long shelf-life even when purchased fresh. Rosemary is a warming, culinary and medicinal herb. It's recommended for headaches, fatigue, poor appetite, low blood pressure, and bad circulation. Apparently rosemary tea is a natural alternative to aspirin for treating headaches, fever, and gas. Next time a headache arises, I think I'll try this natural remedy instead.

Rosemary yogurt biscuits
Adapted from Super Natural Everyday
3/4 c whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 unbleached all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 stick of butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
2/3 c plain full fat yogurt (don't use nonfat)
1 tsp rosemary, minced

Preheat oven to 450. Place baking sheet in the oven to preheat as well.

Add flour, baking powder, and salt to a large mixing bowl (or food processor). Add the chilled butter cubes and cut into the dough with a pastry cutter or your hands (or pulse about 8 times). You want pea sized chunks, not fine sand. Add the yogurt and rosemary and stir well (or pulse) until just combined.

Remove the dough from the bowl (or food processor) and roll onto a well-floured surface. Knead a few times and roll out into a square. Cut in half and stack the layers on top of one another. Roll out again (I used my hands). Repeat this a few times. This stacking will help form those flaky layers. Finally roll the dough out about .75 inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut into 8 small round biscuits. If you don't have a biscuit cutter, use a glass or just cut into squares.

Place biscuits on the warm baking sheet about half an inch apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the bottoms have lightly browned. Remove from heat and eat immediately.

These biscuits were perfect on a cold Sunday morning after a run. We ate them with scrambled eggs and a dash of Siracha.

Source: Wood, Rebecca. The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia, 2010. 

Biscuits? Yes, please!

I awoke to a picture of vegan spelt biscuits Saturday morning from an unlikely sender, my mom. She had just purchased a new cookbook last week, Babycakes, and this was the first recipe she made from it. She explained that the biscuits contained coconut oil instead of butter and eggs.

The reason I was surprised is that this isn't normal behavior. Don't get me wrong my mom is an excellent cook (and an amazing woman), but she isn't vegan nor has she cooked this way before. But she's decided she wants to clean up her diet and make healthier meals for her and my dad (Yay!).

So the photo left me a) wanting biscuits and b) inspired to cook a batch with coconut oil myself. I found this recipe and whipped up a batch. I started the dough Saturday evening and let it sit, covered overnight. I used a mix of organic all purpose flour and spelt flour. Sunday morning I preheated the oven, added the rest of the ingredients and baked the biscuits. The directions say to cook for 10-12 minutes at 450 degrees, but mine were done in 8 minutes. The recipe also says they make 20 small biscuits, but my dough only made 12 small biscuits.

Excellent eaten hot from the oven with a smear of jam or topped with leftover braised swiss chard. Next time I think I'll make them savory with a pinch of rosemary, freshly ground cracked pepper and a smear of goat cheese. Yum.

How do you take your biscuits?