Wednesday, December 14, 2011

3P Theory Biscuits

In medieval times, people had a very high regard for the strawberry. They were a symbol of peace, prosperity and perfection, hence the theory of the 3 P's.  Today, fruit rarely draws such attention.  I imagine if I had a gigantic strawberry statue in the front of my drive today, people would only think it to be strange or that we grew strawberries here!

While strawberries remain as a favorite of mine, I do agree that they have changed with time. The need for us to make bigger foods has somehow overshadowed the need for great taste.  I still stand by the little sweet strawberries as being the best and the bigger ones to be somewhat bland. When I went to the store to get the strawberries, I took some time in trying to get the container that had the smallest strawberries. 

The biscuits are not real sweet because I did want to keep them out of the sweet bread category.  I first experimented with plain yogurt and then various flavors.  The contrast flavors such as almond or banana did not carry into the final product, so I opted for just a subtle base of flavor which was vanilla.

Another thing discovered in creating was that the second pan of biscuits rose more and was fluffier than the first.  It may have been due to the cold yogurt inhibiting the rise.  The solution to that was to have the dough be covered and sit for some rise time and then bake them all at the same time. This recipe makes about 18 biscuits.

3P Theory Biscuits
by flourtrader

Ingredients
1 cup of finely chopped strawberries
1/3 cup and 1 tbs sugar
1 eight oz carton of vanilla yogurt
1 lightly beaten egg
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Grease 2 baking sheets. Take the bowl of chopped strawberries and stir in 1 tbs of sugar and set aside.

Sift together the baking powder, baking soda, salt and both kinds of flour.  Then stir in 1/3 cup of sugar. In another bowl whisk together the egg, yogurt and melted butter.  Fold the yogurt mixture into the flour until no dry streaks remain and then blend in the strawberries.

Cover bowl of dough and let rise for 15 minutes.  Then drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets.  Place all pans of biscuits in oven and bake for 15-18 minutes, turning pans at the halfway mark.  Biscuits are done when they are lightly browned on top.
                     **LAST YEAR: Wedding Cookies**