Scratch Biscuits

I love the time of year when summer wanes and fall comes on!  For me it is time to pull out my crocheting and make a pot of chili!!  Tonight was no exception . . .

Usually I serve chili with rice and/or chips, but tonight was spontaneous and I had no chips nor felt like making rice, so a batch of cheese biscuits was in order.


Scratch Biscuits ~

     1 3/4 cup soft white wheat, freshly ground (I started with a little less than a cup of berries)
     1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose or bread flour (you can use all whole wheat)
     3 teaspoons baking powder
     3/4 teaspoon salt
     1/4 cup oil
     3/4 cup milk (and maybe a little more - NO MORE than a cup but start with the 3/4)

Start with the dry ingredients.  Mix in oil then milk, stir just until moistened.  Drop by heaping tablespoon on greased baking sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.  Makes approx. 8 biscuits.

Cheesy, Garlic Variation ~
     Use olive oil for oil in recipe.  Add about a cup of shredded cheese and 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder.  You can additionally add any herb of your choice.

Sweet Biscuit Variation ~
    Recipe above but add 1/4 sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.  I like to use coconut oil or you could use a lighter vegetable oil - the olive oil is too strong for this.  You can also add raisins and icing if you must. ;-)

My Almost FAMOUS Pecan Tea Biscuit ~                                                       
 I bet you can't believe that I am resurrecting this again!!  Well some things I just can't seem to let go of!!!  This is by far the best version of this recipe - if you haven't read the long version and really want to, click here.

Use scratch recipe above with the sweet biscuit variation.  To this add 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans and - because my daughter begged me - 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional).  Finally a biscuit quality to satisfy!!   Hope you enjoy!

If at First you don't Succeed . . .

Added 10/8/2014 ~ For those of you who don't want to read my ramblings or the extensive journey of the Pecan Tea Biscuit, feel free to click here for the cut and dried "revised" recipe! :D

Busy day at the Hootenanny today!  I've been scrounging around for days looking for a blog post that isn't just ho-hum!  So I found a recipe from a Better Homes & Garden 1973 Homemade Bread Cookbook for Pecan Tea Biscuits and thought I would try them out for breakfast this morning.

Pecan Tea Biscuits ~
     In mixing bowl stir to combine thoroughly 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Cut in 1/4 shortening till mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Combine 1 beaten egg and 3/4 cup milk;  add all at once to dry mixture, stirring just till dough clings together.  Stir in 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans.  Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet.  Combine 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon;  sprinkle over biscuits.  Bake at 425 for 8 to 10 minutes.  Makes 36 biscuits.

Of course I had to manipulate the recipe to make them whole wheat, so here's my take . . .

Whole Wheat Pecan Tea Biscuits ~
     1 3/4 cups soft white wheat flour, freshly ground (started with a little less than a cup of berries)
     3 tablespoons unbleached, all-purpose flour

     1/4 cup sugar (probably should have used sucanat, but I didn't)
     2 teaspoons baking powder
     1/2 teaspoon sea salt
     1/4 cup coconut oil
     1 beaten egg
     3/4 cup milk
     1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
     2 tablespoons sugar
     1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
     I mixed it according to the directions above.  I made these bigger drops than the teaspoon drop they recommended - more like biscuit size.  About 14.

Well the batter seemed REALLY wet (not exactly "drop" consistency) and thus I added the extra flour.  It seemed better . . . but as soon as I popped these in the oven they became like pancakes!  (Left side of photo)  They tasted good, but were kind of hard on the eyes!  ;-)  Oh well,  I decided maybe I wouldn't blog about them after all.

So, school as usual . . . ran my son to his Nana's to mow . . . cleaning, dishes, laundry . . . and I realized I was out of dishwasher detergent AND laundry powder.  For the past three months I have been using Doterra Essential Oils and have been replacing store bought cleaners/soaps with homemade . . . see a post on this soon!!!  So I threw together a couple of batches . . .

By dinnertime, that Pecan Tea Biscuit recipe was STILL nagging at me.  So after dinner I was going to try them again.  When I started I was truly just going to make the same recipe, but with more flour adjustment.  I had good intentions, truly I did, I'm not sure what came over me, but what came out was more like . . . DESSERT!  Introducing

Double Chocolate Pecan Tea "Cakes" (I'm sorry but these things are NOT biscuits)
     1 3/4 cups soft white wheat flour
     1/4 cup sugar
     1/4 cup unbleached flour
     1/4 cup cocoa
     2 teaspoons baking powder
     1/2 teaspoons sea salt
     1/4 cup coconut oil
     1 beaten egg
     3/4 cup milk
     1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
     1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
     2 tablespoons sugar
     1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
     I mixed these the same as the directions above and dropped them about biscuit size again.

Now I know that we are usually our own worst enemy . . . I STILL was not happy with how flat they were, or how they spread out on the pan.  Nor was I happy with the overall consistency.  If these are supposed to be biscuits then I felt they needed to be drier - denser maybe.  They were so flat they could have been cookies, but again the consistency wasn't right for a cookie either.  They were truly the consistency of cake.  Again they tasted GREAT!!  Oh well . . . I don't dare try these again today!  :D

Know Your Wheat - Hard or Soft / Red or White!

When I started buying whole wheat flour from the grocery store some 25 years ago, the only choices on the grocery shelf were "whole wheat" flour - whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, stone ground whole wheat flour.  There was no distinction between hard or soft, red or white.

Nowadays, you CAN find flour with a hard or soft/red or white distinction.  There are still a lot of just "whole wheat" flours out there though.  And I can tell you from experience that making bread with the whole wheat flour that you buy from the store DOES NOT make the same kind of bread that grinding your own can yield.  Obviously you have to start somewhere if you don't have a grinder yet and so I suggest that you put forth a little more effort and purchase specialty flours from Amazon or a whole food store nearby.

Once you start purchasing whole grain wheat, a basic knowledge of varieties is beneficial.

1)  Soft White Wheat Berries - Soft white is the type of wheat you would use for ALL your quick bread or pastry needs, such as, pancakes, muffins, brownies, biscuits, tortillas, or cookies -- anything that you might make with baking powder or soda.  Due to the low protein content of this wheat it doesn't work well with yeast breads.

2)  Soft Red Wheat Berries - Soft wheat also comes in a red variety.  Interestingly enough, this soft red wheat is grown in the TN valley.  I regret to say that I have NEVER used this one.  Perhaps it is because most of the sources I purchase from are out west.  Anyway, this variety would be used in the same capacity as the soft white.  Due to it being a red variety, it will yield darker results in cookies, cakes, etc.

3)  Hard White Wheat Berries - This is a variety used in yeast breads or any kind of recipe calling for yeast.  Because it is white in color - almost a golden - it will yield lighter in color breads than its red counterpart.  I most frequently use this variety when making my french bread recipe.  I have tried it in other bread recipes and actually know several others who use it solely in their bread recipes, but I am a creature of habit, and I simply love my bread made with a hard red variety or spelt especially.

4)  Hard Red Spring Berries - This variety distinguishes itself from the other red wheat because it is planted in the spring and harvested late summer or early fall.  The hard varieties of wheat are higher in protein content which produces more gluten making these ideal for yeast breads.  For more details you can click here, but basically the hard red spring is supposed to be the highest protein content wheat there is.

5)  Hard Red Winter Berries - Very similar to the hard red spring, the main distinction of this variety is that it is planted in the fall.  There are many sources that say the protein content of the hard red winter wheat is just slightly lower than than of the spring red.

So to recap in simplicity!
     *Soft wheat for baking needs where you use baking powder or soda for leavening.

     *Hard wheat for baking needs using yeast.

Hopefully this will give you a good overview of the differences between the basic wheat.  Perhaps someday I will touch on the many other varieties.  ;-)

NOTE:  I may be shooting myself in the foot here, but after placing my Amazon links on this post I will say again -- in order to get the most bang for your buck, the best way to buy bulk grains is going together with a group of friends and ordering from a co-op such as Cloverdale.   

Macaroni & Cheese from Bulk Food Storage

It was another busy day in the bulk food kitchen today!  Of course, grits and eggs for hubby's breakfast - he was out pretty early this morning!  Then somewhat later I fixed pancakes for breakfast - I need to share that recipe one of these days - but for those, I was into the soft white wheat, powdered milk, baking powder, & salt.  I put up some strawberries this week and as a special treat I made a strawberry syrup this morning for those of us who like that sort of thing on our pancakes - YUMMY! - for that I was into the evaporated cane juice.  What I really need to do is ask Sarah over at Stir it Up! if she has a recipe for fresh strawberry syrup!  Anyway, for dinner we had Spanish rice (I did use white) and refried beans (I cheated tonight and used canned).  But the main reason for tonight's post was the macaroni & cheese I made for lunch.  I recently purchased a 6 lb container of cheddar cheese powder to make my own version of the "boxed" mac and cheese.  A friend of mine with 7 children buys the cheese powder by the 50 lb bag.  I really wanted to give it a try, so here goes . . .

Macaroni and Cheese ~

    Bring to a boil 5 cups of salted water.  Add 3 cups of elbow macaroni and cook until al dente.  Drain the macaroni.  Place the elbows back in the pot.  Add a 1/2 stick of butter, 1/2 cup of milk - you guessed it, I used my powdered solution, and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese powder.  Stir until all the lumps are gone and you have a creamy texture.  It was actually very good - as far as boxed substitutes go!!
                                                                                                                                   


I really needed to bake bread today, too, but I ended up being too busy!  Tomorrow's another day . . .

Whole Grain Fudge Brownies

The power of suggestion is great!  After talking about these to a couple of ladies over the past week - one of whom had sampled them - the request was made.  Can we have the recipe??  But, of course . . .

Whole Grain Fudge Brownies ~

1 stick of butter
1/4 cup of cocoa powder (or two squares unsweetened chocolate-2 oz)
1 cup Sucanat - can substitute cane juice or sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup freshly ground soft white wheat - can substitute all-purpose flour
Dash of salt (1/8 teaspoon)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8x8x2 inch baking pan.  Melt butter over low heat in a saucepan.  Add cocoa and Sucanat mixing well.  Remove from heat.  Add eggs and vanilla until just combined.  Stir in flour, salt, and nuts (if using).  Spread batter in pan.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

You don't want to overbake these, so watch them carefully.  They will be moist and chewy.  I have been known to top these with mint chips, toffee chips, or whatever else sounded yummy at the time.  Just pour the batter and sprinkle the chips on top without disturbing or stirring and bake as usual.

ENJOY!!

Pumpkin Muffins

I know I am still straying here . . . but couldn't resist sharing this muffin recipe.  It is one that frequents our home.  Last week I made four batches.  Of course, last week I splurged and added chocolate chips to the recipe.  Maybe that is why they kept disappearing :D  !!!

As a side note, last fall after halloween our local grocery store put their pumpkins on sale for 99 cents.  Not per pound, mind you, any pumpkin, any size, 99 cents!!  Well, I couldn't resist.  I bought two of the biggest pumpkins I could find and for a couple of days, I canned and froze pumpkin.  If I remember correctly the smaller of the two pumpkins yielded 7 pints - and of course we had a quart jar almost full of yummy roasted & salted pumpkin seeds.  Anyway, all that said, my family is not crazy about pumpkin unless it is in a pie or in a muffin . . .


Pumpkin Muffins ~

1 cup freshly ground soft white wheat (may use all purpose)
3/4 cup unbleached flour (may use all purpose or more soft white)
1/2 cup Sucanat (may use sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk (I used that powdered milk from the last post ;) )
1/3 cooking oil

1/2 cup pumpkin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped nuts (my preference is pecans - also optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (OPTIONAL)

Grease muffin tin.  Preheat oven 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl stir together all dry ingredients, including cinnamon & nutmeg.  Add wet ingredients and pumpkin.  Stir until just moistened.  Add optional nuts or chocolate chips at this time.  Spoon mixture into greased tin.  Bake 20 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Enjoy!!!