Homemade Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits with Apple Butter

So what do you think I did with the rest of the apples Vern gave us? Well, I made a recipe that I enjoyed from my Nanny when I was younger - apple butter! Brett had never had apple butter, so I knew this was a treat he needed to experience, and what better way to try it than with Vernalicious apples?

As some of you know, I'm also quite intimidated by bread making of any kind. I don't know why, as I know it isn't as difficult as I make it out to be in my head, but I always imagine myself with cramped hands, covered in flour, sitting in front of a limp ball of dough that won't do what it is supposed to. As you can see, I've really psyched myself out about it. The thing is though, you can't just eat apple butter by itself - I knew I wanted some sort of bread, but I wasn't sure what kind. Eventually I decided to try my hand at making biscuits - I am damn tired of buying those icky tubes of biscuits that source their ingredients from who knows where and contain all sorts of less-than-pleasant ingredients. I also thought this would be a good way to get my "toes wet" in the bread making department. The end result? Bread making is not that hard and it is actually quite enjoyable. I liked getting my hands in the dough! While I might not be baking up a bread storm, as Brett and I don't often eat sandwiches, or many "flour oriented goods" beyond tortillas really, I will now make my own biscuits. I also have a wild hair up my ass to make my own pita next time it is called for. And yes, I will eventually try my hand at making tortillas. I think this weekend I am going to work on our pizza dough recipe some more. I'm taking Courtney's advice and using whole grain spelt flour. We found some in the bulk bin at the grocery store the other day (sadly not local), and we picked up a few pounds of it to work with.

Enough of the flour related tirade. Onto the food!















Such a yummy brunch! We enjoyed these bad boys while watching some pigskin on the tube.















We have a whole pint of this stuff to enjoy!

A quick note: The recipe for the apple butter came from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving, so for fear of copyright infringement, I cannot reprint the recipe here. If you would like it, please just drop me an email and I would be happy to send it to you.

Also, I halved the recipe for the apple butter so that we would get only one pint or so (it is always a little off for some reason). We didn't go through the whole boiling water bath canner process as we aren't putting this away for winter - we are eating, and very much enjoying it now.

Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits
Recipe adapted from here.

Makes 10 mini-biscuits or 5-6 regular sized ones.

1 1/4 cup flour (I used all-purpose white flour as we are still trying to finish off this lingering bag)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp organic raw sugar
1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
3-4 tbsp raisins
4 tbsp Earth Balance
6 tbsp rice milk (or other milk)
1 Ener-G egg (or other egg replacer)

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

Using a fork, work in the Earth Balance. The batter should be fairly dry and crumbly.

Add the milk and egg replacer and knead with your hands until well combined.

Lightly flour a counter or some other work surface, as well as a rolling pin.

Place your ball of dough on the floured surface and roll out until 1/2 an inch thick.

Form your biscuit using a cookie cutter.

Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

You can also stick a toothpick in the biscuits to make sure they are done.

I think I may make more biscuits tonight or tomorrow so we can enjoy more of the apple butter. It is so good. Now I know what I will do if I ever go apple picking. I really like apple butter, and it, with a couple of homemade biscuits, make quite the tasty breakfast or brunch.

'Til next time.