Of Biscuit Dough and Calories

In our household, we (for the most part) are trying to watch our calories as we prepare meals and consume snacks. It's not as easy as it would seem, as most foods that are tempting are high in calories. We have found that an awareness of what you are eating is the best way to keep track of calories that you are taking in.

Having said that, I decided today that I would make biscuit turnovers for lunch. My idea was to make biscuit dough, roll it out, cut it into turnover sized pieces, add lots of filling and fold them up. I didn't get too far though....once I calculated calories and realized how many were in 1/8 of the dough (almost 260) I realized that my lunchtime effort was in vain. 1/8 of the dough was not enough to create a reasonable turnover for lunch, let alone a snack.

So...

When life hands you biscuit dough balls, make cinnamon biscuits instead. I rolled each ball of dough in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar and baked them in the oven until they were light and puffy. Now, they are still not calorie free....but they do make a nice snack with coffee. And, I know how many calories are in each little dough ball :)

Washington All-Purpose Flour Biscuits

I was looking for something quick to throw together to have with corn chowder, and found that this recipe worked perfectly. These biscuits are nice and salty, and went well with the soup!

• 2 cups sifted flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Place in bowl. Stir to blend.

• 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons shortening)

Add. Cut into flour until crumbly.

• Scant 2/3 cup milk

Add gradually; stir to make a soft dough. Turn onto lightly floured surface. Knead gently 6 to 8 strokes. Roll or pat to one-half thickness desired in baking biscuits. Cut with floured cutter. Place on baking sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Biscuit Adventure

OK, I had some chicken salad in the refrigerator, and wanted something to eat it with that wasn't store bought bread. Here is the recipe that I found in The New Basic cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins.

Roasted Red Pepper Biscuits
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
pinch of sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cold
1/4 cup half-and-half
1 red pepper, roasted and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes, and using two knives, a pastry blender, or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Add the half-and-half, and stir to blend well. Then incorporate the roasted pepper.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it for about 30 seconds. Pat it out until it is 1 inch thick, and cut out rounds with a 2-inch cookie cutter.
5. Arrange the biscuits on a baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake until puffed and golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack and allow them to cool.
Yield: 6 biscuits

That is the base recipe, but of course, I had to play with it. Here are my changes to the recipe:

• cut the recipe down so that I was only making 1/4 of the dough. I ended up with 2 biscuits
• used whole wheat flour
• used skim milk instead of half-and-half
• used jarred roasted red pepper- next time I will cut it into smaller pieces then recommended
• used a hamburger patty shaper to make large, flat biscuits
• baked for 10 minutes

Once the biscuits had cooled, I topped one with chicken salad. Yum!

Yours humbly, Butterbur