Friday, April 6, 2018

Recipe for einkorn biscuits (or shortcake)


A great biscuit recipe is elusive enough, let alone one that works well with einkorn. And by great, I mean a biscuit that does not crumble to sawdust, or fails to rise to beautiful, fluffy height. 

Einkorn is a wonderful flour to work with in some aspects. It is silky smooth, has a golden hue that comes out even more with baking, and is tolerated well by many who are otherwise gluten sensitive. 

The downside is that it is tricky to work with in recipes that use yeast/sourdough, or that contain high amounts of fat. This latter includes biscuits.

If you are new to baking with einkorn, or thinking of making the switch, I highly recommend the Jovial Foods Einkorn cookbook.

 
 available on Amazon


After much trial and error, I feel I have perfected my biscuit recipe using einkorn. This recipe makes 7 large biscuits. Multiply the recipe as needed - I always triple it for our large family.


Recipe for einkorn biscuits (or shortcake)

These are much bigger than they look, about 2" tall and 4" in diameter


yields: 7 large biscuits
prep time: 10 mins
bake time: 12-15 mins

 Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose einkorn flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp (39 g) palm shortening, or cold butter cut into small pieces
2 tbsp (30 g) sour cream
1 to 2 cups whole milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a large baking sheet or cast iron griddle.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, shortening/butter, and sour cream until the mixture looks crumbly.

3. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly start pouring milk into the mixing bowl until the dough comes together and sticks to the paddle in a large clump. The dough should be damp and tacky to the touch, but not runny. Tip: Allow the dough to rest in the bowl for a minute, then check again to make sure it's not too dry. Einkorn is slow to absorb liquids and fats, and you may find that you need to add more milk to get the right consistency after the dough has had a chance to 'rest.' It is impossible to give an exact amount of milk as that will depend on several factors, such as how tightly you packed the flour, how soft your butter/shortening is, the humidity, etc.

4. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a large surface generously covered in flour. Gently roll or pat the dough to about 1" thickness. The top of the dough should be sprinkled with enough flour to no longer be tacky when worked with.

5. At this point, to get truly fluffy biscuits, it is critical to layer the dough by 'folding and turning.' Simply fold the dough in half like a sheet of paper, turn it 90 degrees, and roll out to 1" thickness a second time. You may need to add more flour under and on top of the dough to keep it from sticking, but be careful not to add more flour than necessary or the biscuits will become too dry.

6. Repeat the fold and turn, then roll the dough to 1" thickness a third time. Cut with a large biscuit cutter and place on prepared baking sheet, being careful not to crowd the biscuits. Re-roll scraps and cut again. Tip:Using the rim of a glass will not yield biscuits that rise well as it seals the layers of dough together, preventing them from rising.

7. Bake about 12-15 mins, until biscuits are just starting to turn golden. Move to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

For shortcakes, simply add 1/4 cup of powdered sugar to the recipe in step 2, then proceed in the same way.



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P.S. Check back soon for a little giveaway related to bread baking and ancient grains.

6 comments:

  1. They look like English scones, don't they?

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  2. I would love to use Einkorn flour but it's not very available here in Portugal, however spelt flour is. Do you know if it would work as a sourdough for gluten-sensitive individuals? Thanks.

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  3. Those look delicious. Do you have a recommendation for a church in Tucson?

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  4. These look lovely! Thank you so much! I don't have einkorn at the moment, so I'm going to try them tonight with spelt. I'll let you know if it works out!!

    By the way, I have found that adding guar gum to spelt flour recipes allows them to rise like regular wheat (that is, without the collapse that happens in spelt too). I wonder if that would work with einkorn yeast recipes??

    Thank you!!

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    Replies
    1. They were great made with spelt! Only difference was that a little less liquid was needed (less than a cup). Thanks again!!

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  5. Those shortcakes....My lands, my mouth started watering!

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