Sometimes it's just fine to leave that sourdough starter in the refrigerator for an extra day or two and make something that doesn't include sourdough. These Sweet, Tart Cherry Biscuits make a nice change from the sourdough variety (although I like those, too!). The biscuits are simple to make and taste like a cross between Welsh cakes and scones. The biscuits bake up slightly crunchy, have a bit of nuttiness from white whole-wheat flour, and are mildly sweet. They get a nice tang from the dried cherries. I recommend using your food processor to mix up the biscuits, which will take only a few minutes. The resulting dough is easy to roll out on a piece of waxed paper, saving you from a messy counter cleanup project. I make the biscuits fairly thin so that I can easily pop them into the toaster to reheat. The biscuits are great as a snack, breakfast treat, or with dinner. If you'd like more of a dessert biscuit, or you just like chocolate, you can add a quarter cup of mini chocolate chips to the dough before you roll it out. The result will be incredibly good--especially if you serve the biscuits warm and oozing bits of warm chocolate. Enjoy!
Tart Cherry Biscuits -- Makes 12-18
1½ cups of flour
1 cup of white whole-wheat flour
½ teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of baking powder
½ cup of Smart Balance or butter
¼ cup of sugar
2/3 cup of low-fat milk
Grated zest of half an orange or a clementine
1/2 cup of dried tart cherries
1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips (optional)
1-2 teaspoons of low-fat milk
Raw (or turbinado) sugar for sprinkling
Heat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or coat it with nonstick spray. Put the flours, salt, and baking powder in a food processor and pulse to mix them. Add in dollops of Smart Balance or pieces of butter and pulse a few times until little granules or pea-like pieces form. Add in the sugar, milk, and zest and pulse again until a soft dough forms. Add the tart cherries and pulse again. Don’t over pulse--just a quick pulse is plenty. Dump the dough out onto a piece of lightly floured waxed paper and pat the dough into a circle about 1/2-inch thick (adding in the chocolate chips, if you'd like). Cut the dough into smallish wedges or use a cutter to make round or other shapes. Re-roll the scraps gently. Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet, and with your fingers, moisten the tops with a little milk. Sprinkle a little raw sugar on top of each biscuit, and bake the biscuits 10-15 minutes or until medium brown on top. Cool the biscuits a few minutes before serving them.
Comments