GF Ratio Rally: Biscuits

I didn’t know until about 10 minutes ago what I was going to post today. I have been working on a post for a week about 2011. You know an annual review, so to speak. Weeeeell, that post is still in the works. And I didn’t get to biscuit making until today. That’s right, the night before I have to have a post all about how awesome it is to bake by ratio and not be tied to someone’s recipe. And I hadn’t even attempted to make a biscuit yet.

This is a post for the Gluten-Free Ratio Rally. Each month, a group of bloggers post recipes based on ratios for the same food. We were inspired by Ruhlman’s book, Ratio. More information on this event can be found here.

gluten free ratio rally logo

I even made 2 kinds of biscuits tonight. Both based on Ruhlman‘s Chicago biscuit (like there is any other ratio to try). One was made with mesquite flour and herbes de provence and the other orange-espresso-buttermilk. The prior got a little extra crispy in the oven :( about 3 minutes too long made them a worthwhile experiment, but not good enough to share. I might try them again in the future. Maybe. But I have a confession. I don’t really like biscuits. I think it is that gross fatty feeling from not-quite warm fast food biscuits that I remember, but I had a hard time bringing myself to bake for this rally.

Despite my distaste for biscuits (and I have only had them a couple times since going gluten-free), I decided to mix things up a bit and make some cool flavored biscuits in an attempt to fall in love with them (like the rest of my family). And I think I actually succeeded. Espresso and orange make a delicately flavored and lightly sweet biscuit. A little extra time taken to roll the dough like a pastry chef made these pretty darn excellent and flaky.

Gluten-Free Orange Espresso Biscuits

I was following Ruhlman’s ratio: 3-1-2 (hello, Chicago!) for flour, fat and liquid. I lowered the liquid just a tad because my dough had some sugar and some liquid that had no fat. The secret here is that you need to take your time with these. While you don’t need to worry about developing gluten, you do need the moisture to absorb into the flour and then the flour to coat the butter. This is what creates those layers. And the secret to creating the layers is chilling between the rolling and folding. Also, you need both the baking powder and baking soda. Baking powder is lifting these bad boys, and baking soda is neutralizing the acid in the orange, coffee and buttermilk.

peeled apart gluten-free orange espresso biscuit

Flaky layers of goodness!

Since this is the Ratio Rally, there are bunches of other bloggers participating in the recipe creation fun. Make sure to stop by this month’s host, Gretchen from Kumquat.

Amanda from Gluten Free Maui made Classic Biscuits and Gravy
Amie Valpone from The Healthy Apple made Gluten-Free Wasabi Parsley Biscuits
Caleigh from Gluten Free[k] made American Style Biscuits
Caneel from Mama Me Gluten Free made Whole Grain Pecan Drop Biscuits 
Charissa from Zest Bakery made Eggnog Biscuits with Grated Nutmeg 
Erin Swing from The Sensitive Epicure Scallion made Biscuits with Sausage Gravy
gretchen from kumquat made sweet buttermilk biscuits 
Heather from Discovering the Extraordinary made Almond Coconut Tea Biscuits 
Jean from Gluten-Free Doctor Recipes made Jammers 
Jonathan from The Canary Files made Vegan Sesame Shiso Biscuits 
Karen from Cooking Gluten Free! Biscuit Template with Dairy Free Substitutions
Lisa from Gluten Free Canteen made Fluffy Biscuits, Gluten Free 
Mary Fran from FrannyCakes Gluten-Free Espresso Orange Biscuits
Mrs. R from Honey From Flinty Rocks made Turkey Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping – Gobbler Cobbler lol
Rachel from The Crispy Cook made Hummus in a Biscuit 
Silvana Nardone from Silvana’s Kitchen made Gluten-Free Sausage-n-Cheddar Bialy Biscuits
TR from No Ones Likes Crumbley made Cookies Lemon Basil Biscuits 

Gluten-Free Orange Espresso Biscuits
Print
Recipe type: Breakfast
Author: Mary Fran Wiley
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 50 mins
Serves: 6-24
These are buttermilk biscuits with a twist. A very, very good twist. Use a food processor, and the mixing process takes one bowl and is over in less than 5 minutes. The whole recipe requres about 20 minutes of active time and 15 minutes of baking, but about an hour and a half of down time.
Ingredients
  • 255 grams gluten-free all-purpose flour (2 scant cups)
  • 1 teaspoon xantham gum*
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
  • teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar**
  • the zest of 1 orange
  • 85 grams (6 tablespoons) cold butter, cubed
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) coffee (cold!)
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) orange extract
  • 125 ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk
Instructions
  1. In a food processor, pulse together the flour, xantham gum, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, salt, sugar and orange zest.
  2. Add the cubed butter and pulse until the mixture resembles rough sand.
  3. Add the liquid ingredients and pulse just until the dough comes together.
  4. Pat the dough into a 4″x6″ rectangle and wrap in plastic. Chill for about an hour.
  5. Turn out the dough onto a well-floured surface and then sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough.
  6. Roll the dough out so that it has tripled in size and then fold it in thirds and roll it out again. Fold it in thirds one more time, wrap in plastic wrap and return to the fridge. Leave it there for at least another hour.
  7. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and cover a baking pan with parchment paper.
  8. On your floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4″ if making bite size biscuits or 1/2″ if making large biscuits. Cut the biscuits using your desired size cutter.
  9. Arrange on the baking sheet about an inch apart. Sprinkle with a little more tubinado sugar and bake for 12-15 minutes for small biscuits and 15-20 minutes for larger biscuits.
Notes

* If your flour blend contains xantham gum, do not include it again.
** If you do not have turbinado sugar, you can use brown sugar or 2 teaspoons granulated sugar.

 

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