Angel Biscuits

Saturday  in the early morning  Mystie

So I started this series without even consulting Elly and she’s already posted about three breads while my lone initial post is still waiting for companions. Time to catch up. :)

Elly might have been on a potato kick, but I was on a biscuit kick. I started this series off with Southern Biscuits, and two weeks later I continue with the biscuit recipe I tried a day after those Southern ones.

Angel biscuits have three leavening agents, yeast included, but it’s treated like a quick bread. I tried one angel biscuit recipe very early on in our marriage and don’t remember it being a particular success. But I gave the recipe from THE Bread Book a go. Part of the reason for my attempts at new biscuit recipes is my periodic project of finding a replacement for Matt’s very favorite breakfast: Biscuit Ring. This consists of refrigerator biscuits cooked in the microwave with butter and brown sugar for about 90 seconds. They are very tasty, but refrigerator biscuits just aren’t something I want to make a part of my typical grocery list, even if they are fairly cheap. Cheapness isn’t everything. My pride is injured when nothing I can concoct is even counted as equal to an uber-processed food. Much less one that is cooked in the microwave and still quasi-gooey when consumed. Therefore, I have refused to feed Matt’s preference and have spent numerous attempts over the years to earn at least a “good as” biscuit ring rating, if not to find something superior. I had only recently failed at several attempts at a decent Monkey Bread; failed not simply in not living up to the famed biscuit ring, but failing even in so far as Monkey Breads go, even after the second attempt with slathering the stuff in margarine. With these miseries behind, I turned to actually trying a biscuit base.

The thing you have to remember about Angel Biscuits is that they require an overnight stay in the refrigerator. This actually makes them a perfect candidate for a breakfast dish, in my opinion. And, even though my goal was to convert Matt away from his disgusting, heretical preference for fake food, I did use half whole wheat flour on my first attempt with this recipe. I was torn, but the fact was that I also doubled my first attempt so that I could take some biscuits to play group for lunch as well. And it’s now a confirmed tradition that we mommies consume whole wheat when we get together. It’s our chance to enjoy the nutty, full-bodied, wholesome taste without the complaints of husbands who have twice our metabolisms AND don’t have to bear children. Let them have their white flour and white sugar and regular Coke. I don’t think they’d be too pleased with the results if we really did habitually join in. But perhaps the other mommies would like me to refrain from using the plural pronoun; I do speak at least for myself — maybe only for myself. :)

With that tangent out of the way, I continue. Yes, they were half whole wheat. Yet when I pulled a pie plate of biscuit ring from the oven for Matt and he consumed the entire plate (his family’s tradition, after all, is one can of biscuits per person), you will imagine my shock when he pronounced them with a very happy countenance as “almost as good as a biscuit ring.” And, yes, I have tried it again and had the same result. “Better than a biscuit ring” I know he cannot admit, this now being a point of pride and teasing betwixt us, but “almost as good as a biscuit ring” from his lips for a *whole wheat* replacement?! I am still in shock. I am reserving the full-white version for some special occasion, some moment when I need an ego boost in the kitchen.

These biscuits really do translate well for replacing refrigerator biscuits because of their texture. The flavor has the time to ripen in the refrigerator (Thanks, Elly!) and then you roll it out three times before baking it, folding it over on itself twice before rerolling it. This makes a big difference. They don’t look all that much more fluffy, but the layers make them much more flaky.

So, here’s my biscuit ring recipe: use the Angel Biscuits from The Complete Book of Breads; instead of cutting into biscuits, cut into bite-sized squares; melt 1/4 cup margarine in a pie plate and swirl in some brown sugar and cinnamon to make a goop, then plop the biscuit pieces into the plate and gently swirl them around a bit; fill the plate but keep the pieces in mostly a single layer; bake at 400-degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown; eat and enjoy!

Then for play group this week I used the same recipe, once again half whole wheat, and tried another variation on refrigerator biscuits from our recent American Heritage Girl cookbook. The recipe there has you melt 1/4 margarine in a baking dish and whisk in Lawry’s garlic salt to taste, then put the cut-up biscuit pieces in it to bake. Same principle as the biscuit loaf above, but savory instead of sweet. They were pretty good, but I made a 9×13 and layered the pieces instead of keeping them in a single layer without increasing the fat, so they were a bit on the dry side. The recipe was still requested, so they weren’t too bad. You may now consider your request filled. :)

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 1st, 2007 at 8:47 am and is filed under Cook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.