formalities: a lesson on cut-out biscuits
i feel i have to distinguish between biscuits and cookies. well, 'biscuit' seems to be the overarching term, while 'cookie' is an american creation. they should refer to the same thing, but looks-wise you would have a tendency to associate certain things with cookies, others with biscuits. in general, i think of cookies as those things with chunks of nuts, fruit and/or chocolate mixed in. biscuits on the other hand make me think of regular-shaped plain things.
otherwise, i think they're the same. when we talk about 'drop' cookies/biscuits, we are referring to those made from dough where you simply spoon and drop onto the baking sheet, as was done here. but i'm making a 'cut-out' biscuit this time, meaning they are cut into shapes from a rolled dough before being placed onto the baking sheet.
there are, of course, other types of cookies/biscuits, like 'ice-box', 'bar', 'pressed', 'stenciled', 'piped' and 'twice-baked'. if i ever try those cookies/biscuits, i'll write about the different techniques involved.
tomorrow i'm going to bake butter cut-out biscuit wedges, which is nothing more than nigella's butter cut-out biscuits sans the cookie cutter. i am going to cut the dough free-hand, into wedges, so as to reduce the need to re-roll.
that's one thing about cookies/biscuits made from rolled dough. you want to maximise the number of cookies/biscuits you get from the first roll, because they become noticeably tougher if they are baked from the subsequent re-rolls. in other words, work the dough less to keep it tender, as with pie doughs.
this recipe is so nice that i've decided to share it. pray no publishers come to sue me. anyhow, i shall give citation for it. it comes from nigella lawson's how to be a domestic goddess: baking and the art of comfort cooking.
you need 400g plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 200g castor sugar, 175g soft unsalted butter, 2 large eggs and 1 tsp vanilla extract. i am omitting the ingredients for icing, because i don't bother with it; the biscuits are nice by themselves. (by the way, this recipe comes from the children chapter in her book, which explains the need for colourful icings. but i'm making this to bring to camp.)
i also think that you should use only the best ingredients, because there are so few required; the taste of each affects the overall taste. especially butter! i'm using président butter for these biscuits.
sift the flour with the baking powder in a bowl. add the salt, and use a fork to roughly combine.
cream the butter and sugar until pale and moving towards moussiness. i take at least five minutes for this on my machine (on high), so i really don't think you should cream by hand for this, though you could if you want i guess, as long as it doesn't warm up to the point where the butter melts.
beat in the eggs and vanilla. at this point, i turn my machine off and begin using a wooden spoon to beat.
add the flour, a third at a time, and mix gently but surely.
after all the flour has been mixed in, use your instinct: if the mixture feels too sticky to be rolled out, add little amounts of flour, taking care not to produce a tough dough. in both my attempts, i've never had to add extra flour, so, ya, nigella is good. besides, i have a feeling it also depends on the temperature and relative humidity of your kitchen.
turn the dough out onto the counter and halve it. pat into two discs, or indeed squares, as i have done, and wrap in clingfilm.
put into the refrigerator and let rest for at least one hour. i've made this tonight so that i can just let it rest overnight. i'm going to bake the entire batch tomorrow, but if you want to use only half the dough, stash the other half into deep freeze until next needed.
it also makes sense to make up big batches of the dough to store in deep freeze, though not for absurdly long periods (i think one month is the maximum), so that you can bake them whenever you want/need to. if you do so, remember to store them as separate discs instead of one big slab.
when i post tomorrow's photos, i'll finish the recipe.
otherwise, i think they're the same. when we talk about 'drop' cookies/biscuits, we are referring to those made from dough where you simply spoon and drop onto the baking sheet, as was done here. but i'm making a 'cut-out' biscuit this time, meaning they are cut into shapes from a rolled dough before being placed onto the baking sheet.
there are, of course, other types of cookies/biscuits, like 'ice-box', 'bar', 'pressed', 'stenciled', 'piped' and 'twice-baked'. if i ever try those cookies/biscuits, i'll write about the different techniques involved.
tomorrow i'm going to bake butter cut-out biscuit wedges, which is nothing more than nigella's butter cut-out biscuits sans the cookie cutter. i am going to cut the dough free-hand, into wedges, so as to reduce the need to re-roll.
that's one thing about cookies/biscuits made from rolled dough. you want to maximise the number of cookies/biscuits you get from the first roll, because they become noticeably tougher if they are baked from the subsequent re-rolls. in other words, work the dough less to keep it tender, as with pie doughs.
this recipe is so nice that i've decided to share it. pray no publishers come to sue me. anyhow, i shall give citation for it. it comes from nigella lawson's how to be a domestic goddess: baking and the art of comfort cooking.
you need 400g plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 200g castor sugar, 175g soft unsalted butter, 2 large eggs and 1 tsp vanilla extract. i am omitting the ingredients for icing, because i don't bother with it; the biscuits are nice by themselves. (by the way, this recipe comes from the children chapter in her book, which explains the need for colourful icings. but i'm making this to bring to camp.)i also think that you should use only the best ingredients, because there are so few required; the taste of each affects the overall taste. especially butter! i'm using président butter for these biscuits.
sift the flour with the baking powder in a bowl. add the salt, and use a fork to roughly combine.
cream the butter and sugar until pale and moving towards moussiness. i take at least five minutes for this on my machine (on high), so i really don't think you should cream by hand for this, though you could if you want i guess, as long as it doesn't warm up to the point where the butter melts.
beat in the eggs and vanilla. at this point, i turn my machine off and begin using a wooden spoon to beat.
add the flour, a third at a time, and mix gently but surely.
after all the flour has been mixed in, use your instinct: if the mixture feels too sticky to be rolled out, add little amounts of flour, taking care not to produce a tough dough. in both my attempts, i've never had to add extra flour, so, ya, nigella is good. besides, i have a feeling it also depends on the temperature and relative humidity of your kitchen.
turn the dough out onto the counter and halve it. pat into two discs, or indeed squares, as i have done, and wrap in clingfilm.
put into the refrigerator and let rest for at least one hour. i've made this tonight so that i can just let it rest overnight. i'm going to bake the entire batch tomorrow, but if you want to use only half the dough, stash the other half into deep freeze until next needed.it also makes sense to make up big batches of the dough to store in deep freeze, though not for absurdly long periods (i think one month is the maximum), so that you can bake them whenever you want/need to. if you do so, remember to store them as separate discs instead of one big slab.
when i post tomorrow's photos, i'll finish the recipe.
posted by ivan at 11:16 PM
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