Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Homemade Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits with Apple Butter

Thursday, October 16, 2008

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.

15 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

BISCUITS!!!! APPLE BUTTER!!!!!!! **swoons**

Anonymous said...

Yay for apple butter! I am so glad you made it for Brett...*everyone* needs to have tasted apple butter! It is SOOOO good! I am glad you are enjoying it and that it turned out well.

Courtney

Catherine Weber said...

oooh! I've made my own pita before, and it was so much easier than I'd imagined. Let me know if you want the recipe!

Anonymous said...

I love American football, but I still can't bring myself to call it pigskin - aren't I silly?
Once you start making your own tortillas, rolls, etc, you'll always do it. You're creating so much less waste by making them at home - no packaging, the products aren't traveling from factory to store to your house - it's great!
And I would LOVE the apple butter recipe - I cannot find a vegan recipe anywhere and would like to make some with all the apples we have!

Unknown said...

i just made apple butter (among other things) this week with all my apples.

your biscuits sound really good. and the perfect tool for enjoying apple butter.

Daphne Gould said...

I used to bake all my own bread at one point (when I wasn't working and my kids were little). I've gotten lazy (and busy). Recently I've started making my own tortillas and it is pretty quick and easy. The only trick is to remember to make the dough before you need it so it can rest. Since I don't plan my meals beforehand, I just make sure I always have some cooked in the fridge. I've gotten into the habit of making the dough after I finish my last tortilla, then cooking it when I need another. Mine are all whole wheat, but I occasionally make some for my husband who insists on white. Of course a good cast iron skillet helps a lot, but any 10" fry pan would work.

And your biscuits look wonderful. I so love apple butter, but I haven't had it in ages.

Bianca said...

Oh, I'd LOVE some homemade apple butter...if only I'd make a friend with an orchard!

J said...

Veggie Girl - Haha, let me just say, I made another batch of these biscuits last night and had a mighty fine breakfast this morning!

Courtney - Yay is right! He really enjoyed it. Though it turns out that apparently I cannot listen very well. He HAS had apple butter before, but it had been a really long time.

We've really been enjoying it on biscuits, and I want to try it out on muffins and toast as well.

Catherine - Really? That is nice to know. I would LOVE a recipe!

Shellyfish - Hahaha, we love football too, I actually think this might be the first time I've called it "pigskin" not sure why. :-)

You are very right about the waste and food miles, not to mention, when you make it at home - not only are there no preservatives, it tastes better!

I will happily email you the apple butter recipe. It is incredibly simple, vegan, and delicious. Just drop me a line to kungpaojen@hotmail.com and I will respond with the recipe.

Selina - Wahoo for canning! I hope you blog about what all you did with your lovely apples - were they from the rented tree?

Thank you, they were good and a GREAT vehicle for apple butter.

Daphne - Yeah, if I had more time I would do a lot more of it. I think for now, aside from a few things, I will do it every once in awhile. Though I don't think we'll be buying tubed biscuits again.

Those are some good tips about tortilla making. Do you have a good recipe you use that you might share?

Bianca - It is amazing. I wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to make this had it not been for Vern's delightful gift of fresh apples! We may have to go apple picking next year just to get enough apples to make lots of this!

miss v said...

hey, i just found your blog -i'm in kansas city. i love apple butter. i have a bunch of apples left from a recent buy and i'm debating between roasted applesauce or apple butter. both sound so good.

ps- i'd love to know the recipe you used... missv@thevegancookbook.com

Theresa said...

Oh my, that looks and sounds delicious! I have never had apple butter before either. If you are canning stuff then the breadmaking will be no problem in comparison!

Daphne Gould said...

Sure. I forget where I got the recipe for tortillas. But it makes 4. Knowing you, you would need a lot more.

1c WW flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

stir together

1T canola oil
1/3c water

Mix in and knead a few times until well mixed. Divide into four balls. Let it rest for at an hour (or put in fridge until you need it). Roll out each ball into an 8" tortilla sprinkling with flour to keep it from sticking to the counter. Cook on one side (preheated cast iron skillet is best) until you see several bubbles starting to form. Flip and cook on the other side, using your spatula to push down the bubbles.

I've made ones with more oil that taste really good, but half oil and half water seems a bit excessive.

J said...

Miss V - Welcome to Veg*n Cooking! Are you on the Missouri or Kansas side?

I do too. Oh man, that is a tough decision. Perhaps both? :-) I'll send you the recipe as soon as I publish this comment.

Theresa - You should really try apple butter. It is really good and you can spread it lots of things.

I hope you are right about the breadmaking. I'd love to know how to make things like focaccia and burger buns but they seem like they would be really difficult to make.

Daphne - Eh, it doesn't matter where it came from. Haha, yes we would probably double the recipe, we eat tortillas more often than not it seems. :-)

This doesn't sound very difficult at all. Thank you so much for the recipe! I am going to have to try these out soon, and I need to actually do it instead of just saying it, I've been wanting to try this for awhile. I don't have a cast iron skillet sadly, but I will work with what I have the best as I can.

That does seem like an excessive amount of oil, I'm sure they are fine your way.

If I make these I will definitely blog about them, that will be a big accomplishment in our kitchen!

Alicia said...

I've never had biscuits, or I didn't know they were biscuits, but they look like something I love in Germany: little raisin bread (rosinenbrötchen). I should try this recipe!

jessy said...

your biscuits sound glorious, Jennifer! thanks soooo much for the recipe! hooray for such biscuit making success, too! man, that rocks so hard! you made apple butter?!? hells yeah!

J said...

Alice - You've never had biscuits?! If you ever make it to the States I would happily feed you all the things you've never had that we post about.

Jessy - Thank you! Yep, homemade apple butter! It was a a lot easier than I thought it would be. And it tasted so good it was definitely worth the effort!