Cinnamon Raisin Buttermilk Biscuits

This is my absolute favorite biscuit recipe ever.  It's in the America's Test Kitchen cookbook, and it is my tried and true best loved ever.  This time though, I decided to add cinnamon and raisins to the dough to change things up a bit.  These biscuits blew me away!  My Hungry Puppies were in heaven!  Crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside and bursting with cinnamon and raisins, I didn't want to stop eating them!

Cinnamon Raisin Buttermilk Biscuits

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup cold buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 450F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together the all purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.  Cut in the butter using a pastry blender until coarse crumbs form.  Stir in the raisins.  Add the buttermilk and stir together until evenly moistened.  Scoop out pieces of the dough and drop onto the prepared baking sheet.  

Place the biscuits in the preheated oven and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned.  Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack.  Makes 12 biscuits.

Enjoy!  -Cardamommy

Iced Cinnamon Bun Scones

I'm not a breakfast person.  I'm usually at the gym during breakfast time, so my husband makes and serves breakfast to my Hungry Puppies.  Even on Saturdays, I get to sleep in (a blessed day) while he does breakfast duty.  Sunday is out because we have really early church.  Like at 8am.  Which means that sometimes my youngest Hungry Puppy (who is also not a super breakfast person) will have a slice of cheese for breakfast.  Very very  very occasionally, I will drag myself out of bed on a Sunday when church is not so early, and make a special breakfast. These scones fit that bill.  And they were devoured!  They are tender and yummy, full of cinnamon brown sugar ribbons, and topped with a quick vanilla glaze.  Delicious!

Iced Cinnamon Bun Scones

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Swirl:
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons butter, room temperature

Scones:
3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) cold butter, cut into 8 slices
1 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze:
2 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons milk (enough to reach desired consistency)

Preheat the oven to 425F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, Set aside.

For the Cinnamon Brown Sugar Swirl, in a food processor pulse the brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter until crumbly.  Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.

For the scones, place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in the food processor and pulse several times to blend.  Add the cold sliced butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas.  Transfer the flour mixture to a large bowl and add the cream, egg, and vanilla.  Stir until a firm dough forms.  Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the dough and knead several times to incorporate the swirl, making sure not to overknead it as you want to have streaks of the brown sugar mixture.

On a floured work surface, shape the dough into into an 8 inch circle, about 1 inch thick.  Cut the circle into 8 wedges, and transfer to the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1/4 inch of space between the wedges.  Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove scones from the oven and let cool while you make the glaze.

For the glaze, combine the butter and powdered sugar in a small bowl and mix until it starts to blend together.  Add the milk and stir until the glaze is smooth.  Transfer the scones to a cooling rack, and drizzle the glaze over the top.  Serve warm.  Makes 8 large scones.

Enjoy!  -Cardamommy

Chocolate Spiral Biscuits

I found digital copy of this cookbook at the library and couldn't check it out fast enough.  It's called Deep Dark Chocolate: Decadent Recipes for the Serious Chocolate Lover, by Sara Perry.  I found a couple of interesting recipes in there, like one for Brown Sugar Chocolate Sauce (can't wait to try that one!).  Lately Friday has been designated leftovers day, where our dinner menu consists of all the leftovers from earlier in the week.  It has been so great!  Until we had no leftovers...and I had no alternate plan.  So we had salad and these biscuits, which I threw together in about 30 minutes.  Not bad...and delicious too.

Chocolate Spiral Biscuits

Dough:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

5 Tablespoons cold butter

¾ cup whole milk

Filling:

3 Tablespoons butter, room temperature

2 Tablesppons granulated sugar

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Demarara Sugar

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until resembles coarse crumbs. Add the milk and toss together with a fork until a rough dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead several times. Roll the dough into a 13x11 inch rectangle.

Spread the butter evenly over the dough, then sprinkle evenly with the sugar and the chocolate. Roll up the dough like cinnamon rolls, then cut the roll with a sharp knife into 12 slices. Place the slices about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the tops with demarara sugar.  Bake about 18 minutes, or until golden and done. Place on a cooling rack and let cool. Makes 12 biscuits.

Enjoy!  -Cardamommy