Intros and Inspirations
When I lived in Seattle, there was this wonderful vegan restaurant called The Globe. The food might have been even more delicious due to the long delay that typically preceded it; I remember sometimes waiting up to an hour as my breakfast became brunch.
It was at The Globe that I first began my appreciation of biscuits* in the form of their deliciously popular Biscuits & Gravy dish I'd wait for every weekend. When something is this delicious, why not try and make it at home? (The following recipe is only biscuits: Biscuits & Gravy will be a separate post someday.)
* It was also at the Globe where I learned that not all poetry should be read aloud. Or shared, in general.
History of Dish
According to foodreference.com, the first biscuits were cooked twice (“bis” = twice and “cuit” = cooked in French). They were very hard and called “stone bread” during the time of Louis XIV. Soldiers and sailors at biscuits, then used them as weapons. OK, I made up that very last bit. Britannia has a slight different take on their origins, tracing biscuits to Roman times, claiming the name to be Latin-derived. The same soldiers and sailors ate them, as they would last for many days onboard ships without spoiling.
Yield and Pre-heat
12 biscuits. Pre-heat to 425 degrees farenheit.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour (optional: use whole wheat pastry flour)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup non-hydrogenated shortening (see below)
- ¾ cup soy milk + 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Mixing/Blending
- Place the soy milk and vinegar together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Stir all the dry ingredients together with a fork.
- Cut in the shortening with a fork, pastry cutter, and/or your fingers, until the mixture is grainy and most of the larger lumps of shortening are gone. Some small lumps remain, which make nice pockets of fat for you later!
- Add the soy milk mixture and stir in with a fork, then knead together with your hands to make a sticky ball of dough. You should still be able to handle the dough.
- Flatten 1/3 of a section onto a lightly floured plate, to about ½ inch thick.
- Cut out biscuit shapes, and place on baking sheet (I used stoneware). For these biscuits, I used my star, flower, and roundish cookie cutters.
Baking
Bake at 425 degrees for 8 minutes.
Pre-baked biscuits in fun shapes so you eat more of them.
Eating
These are just begging for some Earth Balance melted on top of them.
Mrs. Pac-man biscuit with a bite
Optional:
Depending on what they are accompanying, you can also make sweet or savory biscuits. To make sweet, add a Tablespoon of sugar and some cinnamon. For savory, add your favorite spices such as oregano or sage.
Conclusion
Fluffy, melty, just-right-crumbly biscuits for any occasion. Especially with greens if you are in the South like I am.
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