Rhubarb and Earl Grey Buttery Biscuits
I hate scones.
Not really, but for some reason when I set out to make a scone it always sucks. But when I go into the recipe with the mindset that I’m making biscuits its a completely different story. I can’t make it make sense.
So here is a recipe for a perfectly buttery and flakey rhubarb biscuit. An excellent choice for breakfast, a snack, or really just any time. I would also recommend tearing it in half (the hamburger way) and sandwiching in some macerated strawberries and whipped cream, or a nice butter and some jam! I’m not going to say they possibilities are endless, but there is a lot of them.
There are are few key steps to a flakey buttery biscuit. The first is making sure that all of your ingredients are cold. If you find yourself with lots of time I would even throw the bowl of dry ingredients in the fridge for a bit, or overnight. The second is to laminate the dough. Laminating just means making layers of dough and fat, this helps create layers and promotes rising.You will see this technique used without a leavener like baking soda or powder when making puff pastry, or with a leavener like yeast when making croissants. While there is no butter block when making these biscuits, the process of rolling out the dough and folding it on top of itself smooshed your little butter pieces and stacks them creating a ton of little butter pockets.
Prep?
This is the perfect recipe for prepping ahead! In fact I recommend it! Once the dough has been cut set them on a baking sheet lined with parchment and freeze until solid before transferring to an airtight container. When baking from frozen add 5 minutes to the baking time.
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Chef’s Knife
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Chefs Knife
- Food Scale
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Whisk
- Bowls
Rhubarb and Earl Grey Buttery Biscuits
Course: Breakfast, SnacksDifficulty: Easy8
servingsIngredients
540g All Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
67g White Sugar (1/3 Cup), Plus more for the top.
2 Earl Grey Tea Bags
226g Unsalted Butter, Cold
1.5 Cups Rhubarb, Thinly Sliced
300g Buttermilk (1-1/4 Cups), Plus more for brushing.
2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Directions
- Slice the rhubarb into 1/4″ slices and mix with half of the sugar then set aside.
Stir together the buttermilk and vanilla extract and set in the fridge.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, remaining sugar and tea from the tea bags. - Cut the butter into 1/4″ slices and toss with the dry ingredients.
Smoosh the butter between your finger to flatten and break into smaller pieces no larger than a dime. - Add the rhubarb and toss until evenly combined with the flour.
Drizzle half of the buttermilk into the dry ingredients then stir to combine followed by the remaining buttermilk then stir until a shaggy dough forms, some dry flour here is okay.
Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface and roll out into a rectangle approximately 8″x18″ then complete a letter fold (fold the bottom third up to the middle and the top third down to cover) and repeat two more times. - Cut the dough in half lengthwise and then in quarters crosswise so that you have 8 pieces then transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet at place in the freezer for at least an hour to chill the butter and relax the gluten.
Note: If saving to bake later allow them to freeze completely and transfer to a freezer bag or airtight container. - When ready to bake preheat the oven to 425F.
Gather two bowls. One with buttermilk and one with white sugar.
Brush the top of the biscuits with buttermilk then dip in white sugar.
Bake for 18-23 minutes until risen, golden and flakey. Add five minutes if baking from frozen.
