My super easy whole wheat biscuits

I haven't ever actually eaten "authentic" biscuits. You know, the kind they serve in southern homes, or even the kind that come out of those supermarket refrigerated cans. 

But I was intrigued enough by them to try to make something like them. After all, some of the recipes I found seemed pretty easy to make, and I don't have to plan in advance (no yeast to proof and rise!)

So I read thru a whole bunch of recipes, even tried out a few, and here's what I came up with. My kids like them a lot, but I'm sure they are NOT authentic biscuits... that's ok. 

Mix together:
3 cups whole wheat flour  
4 teaspoons baking powder (I use aluminum free baking powder)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Then, pour 1/2 cup oil and 1 cup milk into a measuring cup. No need to try to stir it up, they'll just quickly separate. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix. Knead a few times.
Roll out on a silicone mat to about 1/2" thick. Cut into rounds using a glass or a cookie cutter.  Bake on an ungreased pan at 450F for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. (I used the convection oven setting)

My kids really like these with strawberry jelly... I serve them at any meal when I didn't bother to bake bread or bagels in advance, and feel like we need some. (Note: these are very whole-wheat-y.)

Let me know if you try them!

Shared with the Hearth and Soul Blog Hop on May 2, 2012

Monday, January 9, 2012

I really got sidetracked today and my supper planning suffered for it.

Remember that bread recipe I posted? I ended up making a couple of loaves of bread and a whole bunch of Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls. Who can resist pull-apart rolls?!

So...

Whole wheat oatmeal flaxseed Pull-apart rolls with vegetarian sloppy joes (made with red lentils)

Fruit


That's as far as I got, but I suspect it will be ok...

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Sandwich Bread (with flaxseed)

I am not good at following recipes - have you noticed? I look at most recipes as "suggestions" and I never follow them. I'm not always in the mood to dirty my measuring spoons and cups, or sometimes I'm out of an ingredient (or never had it in my house EVER) and sometimes a recipe looks interesting but is too complicated... you get the point.

So I was inspired by a recipe I noticed on King Arthur Flour to try making my own whole wheat oatmeal sandwich bread (that was our favorite bread from Whole Foods, back in the old days when we could get Whole Foods breads - some areas are kosher).

So here's what I did (recipe updated somewhat November 2016)

1/2 c. ground flaxseed
3 c. oat flour (I actually ground up whole oats in my coffee grinder...)
12 c. whole wheat flour or whole spelt flour
1/3 c. vital wheat gluten(optional)
1 T. salt

combine these in an extra large bowl (an old friend recommended using a dishpan instead of a bowl when making large batches or bread, and that's what I do! It's the perfect size.), make a well in the center, and add:

2 Tablespoons instant yeast
4 cups lukewarm water
1/4 cup oil (I used grapeseed, that's what was in my kitchen today, King Arthur Flour recommends safflower oil, but I've already changed the recipe so much...)
1/4 cup honey or sugar

Mix well and add water or flour as needed (flour from different places/different seasons/different varieties absorbs different amounts of water. be flexible when baking bread!).

Knead for at least 10 min. then lightly coat with oil and cover with a damp towel, set it in a warm spot to rise (my kitchen is cold, so I boil a shallow pot of water and set it on the counter. Then set the bowl on top of it to rise in a nice warm, humid spot.).

That's my dough, nicely risen - more than doubled in bulk - in a dishpan.

Yes, I have a dedicated bread baking dishpan...

After it has doubled in bulk (2 hours or so), punch down, take challah, shape your loaves as desired (I make some in loaf pans, and generally use this quantity of dough to make 4 loaves. These would also work as pull-apart rolls, though), and set it in a warm spot to rise again (same trick as before with the pot). Let it rise about 30-40 min more, then bake at 350 F for about 40 min.

Enjoy!

This post was shared with the Hearth and Soul Blog Hop on Jan. 10, 2012

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Busy day today, and since Wednesdays have gotten EVEN MORE hectic, we have pizza on Wednesday nights (a little splurge).

So here's our lunch menu instead:


Toasted Cheese Sandwiches (on homemade whole wheat bread, made with the Gouda cheese Mega is selling for 37.90/kg)

Red lentil and vegetable skillet with whole wheat cousous (saute onion, green - or whatever color, I used green as it is usually the cheapest kind - pepper, diced red potatoes, chick peas, and foraged mallow (chubeiza) leaves, in olive oil. add red lentils and water to cover plus some, and spice as you like - I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, ginger, and cinnamon - and cook, stirring occasionally, adding water as necessary, till the lentils are fully cooked. serve over couscous.)

Fruit - we found apples and persimmons last week for 3 NIS/kilo. lucky us!

Have any busy day tips to share? I'd love to hear all about it!