Digestive or "Wheatmeal" Biscuits

Alternative Healthcare

(A recipe for  when healthcare reform is reversed.)

While snooping around for an authentic recipe for digestive biscuits, I learned how they got their curious name. Sometimes referred to as Wheatmeal Biscuits, these date back to the mid-19^th century and they’re probably from England. It was believed that the baking soda would fend off stomach acid as well as flatulence. Also, the fiber in the whole wheat flour and oatmeal would encourage regularity. My feeling is any cookie that has this quantity of butter isn’t screaming ‘fit for life!’ Wheat is one of the more difficult grains to digest. And, finally, be honest, have you ever farted and followed up with, “Time for a biscuit!”

I like these cookies because they’re delicious. They aren’t very sweet, they pair well with fruit, cheese, nut butters and/or jam and they’re great plain (my preference).   You should bake them regularly often. You can prepare them up to the ‘cut-out’ stage; lay them on a cookie sheet on wax paper or parchment (this way, you can layer them), freeze them, and then seal them in freezer bags.  Bake them directly from the freezer, adding a few minutes to baking time.

You can get all the grains for these biscuits in the “Bob’s Red Mill Aisle” at Fairway.  Or you can purchase these products online at Bob’s own site, or through Amazon. Buy organic when you can.  Once you begin using these products, you may not stop.  The quality is unsurpassed, and the price point is remarkably good. Buy the big bags of stuff.  Go to Bob’s site and register for sale notification. (Then pounce.)

For fun, purchase a small set of round fluted cutters. I bought mine at Sur la Table, but you can get them from Amazon - easy.

My recipe is adapted from an oat biscuit recipe from Nancy Silverton’s great book, Pastries from the La Brea Bakery. 

I liked the original recipe, but nobody else did, so these curatives were born.  

And now that we have them, we can worry less about health care reform being killed as the republicans dip into deep corporate pockets to buy back the house.

Peace, love and good health always,

jane

Digestive Biscuits

Blue Heron Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup, minus 4 tsp. whole wheat flour

½ cup graham flour

2 cups old-fashioned steel cut oats

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 ½ tsp. kosher salt

½ cup fresh and moist light brown sugar, packed (generous, if you want a sweeter biscuit)

8 oz. unsalted European style (83% butterfat) butter, cut into 1” cubes and chilled,

            frozen (If you can’t find Cabot, Plugra or President, use Land-o-Lakes)

½ cup plus 2 Tbsp. low fat buttermilk (additional may be needed to make dough biscuit come together)
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract (optional), added to buttermilk

Procedure:

In the bowl of a food processor, fitted with a steel blade, combine all dry ingredients, pulsing to incorporate. 

Add the frozen butter and pulse until the mixture is a fairly fine meal. 

Transfer to a large bowl and make a well in the center.  Pour in the buttermilk and with your hands, rotating the bowl, mix the dry ingredients into the center, tossing and rotating until incorporated.  (This is where you may need to add a little more buttermilk, a very small amount at a time, until you feel the dough will come together when turned out to be kneaded together.)

Turn out onto a large surface that is dusted with some whole wheat flour and knead JUST until the dough comes together. Too much kneading will make a tough cookie.


You can immediately roll out the dough and begin baking, but if the butter has become too soft, you should: 

Separate into two and flatten to two large discs. Wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm – at least an hour, but longer is preferred.  You can chill the dough overnight.

Preheat oven to 350º F. 

On a lightly floured, large surface, roll a manageable sized piece of dough, 1/8 inch thick.  Cut the biscuits with a 2 ¼” (smaller or larger) fluted (plain if you don’t have fluted) round cutter (or even easier, a juice glass works well). Place close together on parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake for 12-18 minutes, depending on thickness and your oven, until lightly browned.

Yield: varies upon size of biscuit cutter and how many you scarf down before counting.