I do love me a good biscuit.
Fortunately, they can be made healthier by using whole wheat flour and olive oil in place of some of the white flour and butter, and you’ll never notice the difference as they come out of the oven. When berries are in season I like to toss handfuls into my biscuit dough as I mix it together. When they’re not in season, I shake them straight out of their freezer bag into the dough anyway. Berry biscuits are beautiful for weekend breakfast, with or without chunks of white chocolate.
Once you get the hang of biscuits, you can mix them up in no time. I like blitzing the dry ingredients with the butter and oil, then dumping it into a bowl to add the liquid and any additions I like. These would do well with some grated lemon or orange zest, or leave out the sugar and add 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese or a bigger handful of grated old cheddar to turn them into cheese scones.
Patting the dough into a circle and then cutting it into wedges right on the baking sheet saves the mess of rolling and cutting them out on the countertop, but feel free to do that instead if you wish. These would be equally stunning round, or square.
JulieVR
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 Tbsp. sugar (optional)
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup butter, chilled and cut into pieces
- 1/4 cup olive or canola oil
- 3/4 cup milk or buttermilk
- 1 cup fresh or frozen berries (don’t thaw them)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray or line it with parchment.
- Put the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a food processor or into a medium mixing bowl and pulse or stir until well blended. Add the butter and oil and pulse or stir with a wire whisk or fork until crumbly. If you’re using a food processor, transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Add the milk and berries and stir gently just until the dough is combined.
- Pat the dough into a circle that is about 1″ thick and 8″-9″ in diameter on the cookie sheet. (If they are sweet and you want a brown, crunchy top, brush them with a little milk and sprinkle with sugar.) Cut the circle into 8 wedges with a knife or pastry cutter and separate them on the sheet so that they are at least an inch apart.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden. Serve warm. Wrap well and freeze any you don’t eat the same day. Makes 8 biscuits.
