Citrus Angel Biscuits

It's July, the middle of summer, and I feel like baking. I've been suppressing the urge to bake for a few weeks because it's been so hot, and I didn't want to have to reve up the air condition just because I've decided to do some baking. Anyway, I couldn't resist any longer, and since this weekend is a little cooler, I baked some angel biscuits. These biscuits are a little sweet and tangy because I slather some zesty citrus glaze on them before baking. The glaze also gives them some wonderful, summer colour: yellow, orange, and green. Can you guess what citrus zests I used?

The Recipe:
Dry ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1 1/2 tsp dry instant yeast

Wet ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/3 cup plain cream cheese
• water

Glaze:

• 1 orange
• 1 lemon
• 2 limes
• 3 tbsp sugar

Stir dry ingredients together. Cut butter and cream cheese into little chunks and rub into the flour mixture until the largest piece of butter of cream cheese is about the size of a split pea or lentil, and evenly distributed. Add water until a soft dough forms. Gather dough into a dough ball, wrap loosely with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for a few hours to let the dough soften and rise. 

To make the glaze, wash the orange, lemon, and limes, and grate the zest into a bowl. Add sugar and mix to evenly distribute the zest. To make it spreadable, squeeze either the juice of the lemon, or the two limes over the sugar. 

Roll out dough to 1/4 inch (or ~3/4 cm) thickness, fold the dough in half so that there are two layers. Cut out into squares or circles or whatever shape you want your biscuits to be, brush citrus glaze over biscuits, and slide into a hot oven to bake. Bake at 425 F (~220 C) for 10 to 12 minutes. Let biscuits cool on a rack and enjoy!

Rested and risen dough with a particularly large chunk of butter

Ready to be baked

Cooling and waiting to be devoured

Herb Flatbread Crackers

Do you like crackers? I love eating crackers, so I decided to make a batch today, from scratch. These crackers are flavoured with fresh parsley and garlic. Some wheat bran gives these crackers a delicious hearty flavour and healthy fibre. A drizzle of olive oil makes these crispy. I know you can easily buy a box of crackers in stores, but they probably don't have fresh herbs or fresh garlic. Besides, you won't get the satisfaction of making them nor would you get to eat them while they're still warm from the oven.

The Recipe:
Ingredients

• 1 cup chapati flour
• 1/2 cup soy flour
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1/4 cup pea fibre
• 1 tsp dry instant yeast
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup water (add enough to make a pliable dough)
• salt (optional, to sprinkle over the top before baking)

Stir together flours, bran, fibre, and yeast. Add parsley and garlic to flour mixture and stir to evenly distribute. Add 1/2 cup water and the olive oil and knead as you would a bread dough. Add more water as needed to make a pliable dough. The dough should not be runny or crumbly, and you should be able to form shapes with it easily. Allow dough to rest for an hour or so. 

Roll out to get a 1/16 inch (about 1.5 mm) layer, cut out into your little crackers, place on a lined baking sheet, and sprinkle some salt over the top if you want. Bake for about 12 minutes at 325 °F (about 165 °C). Allow crackers to cool on a rack and enjoy! 

The flours

Fresh parsley

Soft dough 

Rolled out crackers – look at all that parsley!

Baked