Cinnamon Buckwheat Biscuits

Today was supposed to be bread baking day as we’re down to two pieces of bread in the freezer. Unfortunately, mother nature has brought us 80 degree temperatures today and I really didn’t want to heat up the kitchen too much with baking. That would mean I would have to turn on the air conditioner and I’m just not ready for that yet!

So, I baked a quick batch of biscuits for breakfast tomorrow and added some buckwheat flour and cinnamon for a little change. My son came whipping around the corner into the kitchen to see what was baking. He said it smelled like poptarts were toasting in the oven! Slathered with a little real butter and strawberry puree, they do faintly resemble the flavor of a strawberry poptart, only better!

We are very lucky to be so close to Florida, as we’ve had strawberries in the store for a couple of weeks now. I’ve already made a couple of small batches of strawberry jam. The strawberry puree was left over in my fridge from straining strawberry jam (my son hates anything with seeds). I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out and have been stirring into my morning oat bran.

Here is a link to the jam recipe, Blueberry Jam. I just used strawberries in place of blueberries.

Cinnamon Buckwheat Biscuits

1 and 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup buckwheat flour

2 tablespoons brown sugar or turbinado sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 stick unsalted butter (4 tablespoons)

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1-2 tablespoons cold water, only if dough doesn’t come together and you need more liquid

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl, then cut butter in with a pastry cutter or fork until mixture is crumbly (pea-sized butter crumbs).

Note: I have tried the trick of grating cold butter on a large hole cheese grater to save the cutting in process. In my experience, the biscuits don’t rise as high. I think the smaller, thinner pieces melt too quickly in the oven so I’m sticking to using my pastry cutter!

Whisk buttermilk and egg together and then stir into biscuit mixture. Stir with a spatula or large spoon just until it begins to come together. Add the cold water one tablespoon at a time if the dough is still too dry to come together. Turnout dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently a few times until you have a cohesive dough that will roll out.

Roll dough out to 2 inch thickness, cut with a biscuit cutter and place biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between them.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until tops are lightly browned and biscuits are cooked through.

Serve immediately, or let cool completely and store (wrapped well) in the freezer.

This recipe makes 6 three to four inch biscuits, depending on how low you roll out the dough. If baking for a crowd, double or triple the recipe.

While egg is not traditional in a biscuit, I like to add it to mine occasionally to cut back just a bit on the butter and boost the protein content. It also helps it stay together when using biscuits for hand held sandwiches, like with a sausage or ham biscuit.