Biscuits by Joanna

Want to know what I am grateful for today?  That my kids go to camp so they have 10 pairs of underwear and socks because I am not sure when I will be doing laundry.  Whether that is because of the lack of power or frozen pipes or water main breaks or because I just don’t feel like it.  Many of us entered 2021 with an optimistic, hopeful, can-do, we-can-overcome attitude.  What a one-two sucker punch – weary from trying to dodge the virus for 12 months and now managing 144+ hours of freezing temps.  

When your power comes back on and you want comfort and warmth and a feeling of simplicity and goodness, make these biscuits by Joanna Gaines, Magnolia Table.  I may have to do a biscuit bake off, side-by-side taste test with Bobby Flay's biscuits.      

Ingredients

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks of butter), grated or cut into ½ inch pieces
• 2 large eggs, 1 beaten and 1 for brushing
• ¾ cup plus ½ tablespoon buttermilk

Whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl.  Cut butter into flour mixture, using a pastry blender, until pieces are even and resemble the size of peas.

Add 1 egg to the flour mixture, stirring until combined.  Stir in ¾ cup buttermilk until dough forms a sticky mass.  If mixture is too dry, add more buttermilk a half tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition until desired consistency is reached.  Cover bowl; refrigerate at last 30 minutes or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place chilled dough on a floured work surface. Dust your hands with flour and press dough into ½ inch thick round.  Dust a 2- 2 ¾ inch round cutter with flour.  Cut about 10-12 biscuits from dough.  Roll out scraps to make more biscuits. 

Transfer biscuits to the lined baking sheet.  Whisk together the remaining egg and ½ tablespoon buttermilk in a small bowl.  Brush mixture over tops of biscuits.

Bake until golden brown for 15-20 minutes.  Cool biscuits slightly.  Serve and enjoy!

 

 

Levain-style Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Super Bowl is one of my favorite events – the food, the commercials, the entertainment, and oh yes, the football.  It’s a gluttony of dips, appetizers and desserts.  A few favorites you might want to include at your home: white bean dip with pita toasts; roasted red pepper hummus; Mexican layered dip; tuna tartare; sprinkle cookies.  

It was exciting news when Levain Bakery started selling their cookies at Central Market, that is until Caryn brought over some home baked, Levain-style cookies AND THEN shared the recipe.  These are giant cookies – I mean seriously, the size of your fist, but you won’t want to share.  The batch makes 8-10 cookies which is probably more fitting for the size of your Super Bowl “gathering” this year. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter cut into small cubes
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cups cake flour
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ - 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 c ~ 12 oz bag)

Preheat oven to 400. 

In a large bowl, cream together the cubed butter, brown sugar and sugar until creamy, about 4 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each.  Stir in the flours, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt..  Mix until just combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips (add in up to 2 cups of walnuts, if you choose – we chose no). 

Separate dough into 8-10 portions and place 4-5 cookies on a light colored cookie sheets lined with parchment paper; the cookies are big so separate across 2 cookie sheets.  We formed each cookie dough portion into something that looked similar to a hockey puck (Levain style is more free form and rustic.)  

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown on top (Levain style is less cooked and still a bit gooey on the inside so 12-15 minutes – that’s not our family’s preference so we bake for longer).  Allow the cookies to rest for at least 10 minutes to set.