onion & thyme biscuits

Pretty soon we will be talking about berries and ice-creams and other spring and summery stuff.  Not quite yet though.  Because there is still a slight chill in the air and I still need to reach for a jacket before heading out the door.  Which means I continue to look for excuses to crank up the oven and enjoy something freshly baked!

I was making a simple tomato soup yesterday and a list of bready things to go on the side whizzed through my mind – grilled cheese, panini, a simple olive bread and even pizza.  Somewhere in there, biscuits popped up – the southern buttermilk biscuit kind!  A bit surprising because I haven’t made them often….maybe just once or twice in total.  However, not one to turn my back on such a thought, I decided that biscuits they were going to be.

The few times I had biscuits in a restaurant, I found them to be somewhat rich and made entirely of white flour.  Since I had the luxury of crafting these homemade ones to fit my tastes, I decided that they wouldn’t be plain.  These would be something with herbs and black pepper and at least partly whole-grain.  And light and flaky.  I pulled out the recipe of the one I had made in the past and proceeded to tweak it, going down the list of ingredients to do a subtraction here and an addition there.  I remembered seeing a recipe for an onion scone a long time back that was so pretty with a sliced onion on top, and that I had to throw into the mix somehow 🙂

I think I ended up with a keeper here!  The biscuits turned out bursting with flavor, wonderfully flaky and with hints of whole-wheat that does not overpower.  The trick is to use white whole-wheat flour which is much finer than the regular one and  I just used chapati flour.

To get the wonderful flaky layers, the trick is to use chilled ingredients and laminate the dough.  The whole process might feel a bit intimidating at first but it really isn’t …I would tell you if it was 🙂  It just needs a little patience and resting time….and a ruler.  I had seen several techniques of adding the butter to the flour including cutting it into the flour with a pastry cutter and grating frozen butter into the flour.  The one I settled on was from here, where you flatten pieces of butter into the flour to get petal-like, pretty flakes.

I made them two ways –  taller ones, where the dough is rolled to a 3/4 inch thickness and another version where the dough is 1/2 inch thick.  The tall ones are no doubt stunners, but being whole-wheat, I felt like they were a tad dense.  Highly recommend if using only all-purpose flour.  And although these are best had freshly made, the leftovers warmed in the toaster oven were equally good.  Along with a bowl of soup and some roasted vegetables, makes for a very satisfying meal!

Onion & Thyme Biscuits

Printable Recipe

Makes approx. 6 tall or 8 shorter biscuits with a 2 1/2 inch cutter

Adapted from this recipe

1 1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour (I used King Arthur brand for both the flours but you can use Aata if white whole wheat is not available)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp raw sugar
3/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold butter
1 tbsp canola oil
2/3 cup  + 1 tbsp lowfat or nonfat buttermilk
2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped (plus more for garnish)
1/2 tsp dry thyme
1/2 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
1 tsp black pepper, freshly crushed
1 small onion, sliced into approx. 1/8 inch slices (6 or 8 slices depending on how tall the biscuit is)
milk for brushing tops

Cut the chilled butter int small pieces.  I made one vertical and one horizontal cut into the stick of butter and then sliced them to get 32 small pieces.  Chill in the fridge until needed.

Put the white whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk or toss with a fork to mix well.  Chill flour for about 10 minutes (optional)

Heat a skillet, add an 1/8 cup of water and arrange the onion slices carefully in a single layer.  A sharp-tipped metal spatula is best.  When the water starts to bubble at the edges, turn off the stove.  Let the slices rest in there for a couple of minutes and then carefully transfer to a flat plate until needed.

Add the cold butter pieces and few at a time, tossing to coat them with the flour.  After all the pieces are added, take each pieces of butter that is well-coated with the flour and press between the thumb and index finger to get petal-like flakes.  Put them back in the flour and toss with a fork.

Add the thyme, nigella seeds and black pepper and stir a couple of times.  Then drizzle the canola oil and mix well.

Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the buttermilk.  Start tossing the flour towards the buttermilk and gently mix until the dough comes together.  It will look very rough and craggy.

Transfer this to a lightly floured surface and and knead gently until it comes together in one mass, making sure to knead with a light hand.

Roll the dough into a 9×5 rectangle and then fold it in thirds like you would a letter paper.  Roll it out again to a 9×5 rectangle, dust very lightly with flour and fold into thirds again.  Roll until it is 3/4 inch or 1/2 inch thick.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 45 minutes.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  After 45 minutes, remove the dough from the fridge and transfer to a lightly floured counter or cutting board.

Press the cutter into the dough, making sure to just press down and not twist.  Transfer the biscuits to a parchment-lined cookie sheet with the bottom facing top.  You will get 4 of the 3/4 inch or 6 of the 1/2 inch biscuits in the first round.

Fold the remaining sheet into thirds again (yes, holes and all 🙂 and press.  Then knead very gently until it forms a ball.  Roll again into 3/4 or 1/2 inch and cut 2-3 more biscuits.  Transfer to cookie sheet.  Cut the rest of the scraps and enjoy those baked as a treat 🙂

Brush the tops of the biscuits with some milk and arrange an onion slice carefully on top.  Place a small sprig of thyme on the center.

Bake at 425 F for 12-15 minutes until a golden brown on top.  Serve warm.