Easy Drop Biscuits #BreadBakers

Made with just five ingredients you likely have on hand, these easy drop biscuits bake up light and fluffy, the perfect quick bread to accompany any meal.

The secret to flakey drop biscuits is to make sure the butter is well chilled and combined briefly so, for these drop biscuits, I recommend freezing your butter first. Then grating into the flour. 

And as easy and quick as these are to make, my next tip has stood me in good stead for mornings that things are rushed: Grate the butter into the flour mixture any day when you have time to spare. Bag it up and throw it in the freezer. Whenever you need the drop biscuits, preheat the oven. Tip the bag into a bowl, mix in the milk and you are ready to bake! Easy peasy.

Depending on your freezer space, you can make multiple bags to have in readiness for easy drop biscuits anytime! 

Easy Drop Biscuits

This recipe does call for whole milk. If you only have 2% in your refrigerator, add two tablespoons heavy cream to your measuring vessel and then top up with 2% milk to the 1 1/2 cup or 180ml mark. This recipe makes 12 biscuits.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups or 313g all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup or 113g unsalted butter, frozen

3/4 cup or 180ml whole milk

Method

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Grate the butter into the flour, tossing to coat occasionally as you do. Use the bigger side of the grater. 

Put the whole bowl in the freezer until you are ready to bake. (Or in a labeled bag as mentioned above.)

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and line a baking sheet with baking parchment or a silicone liner.

When your oven is at temperature, add the milk to the flour mixture. Stir lightly with a fork until the mixture comes together into a sticky, shaggy dough.

Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the dough up then release it onto the prepared baking pan with a small spatula. 

Repeat until all the drop biscuits are in the pan, ready to bake.

Bake the biscuits in your preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. 

Let cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack. 

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month, which means it’s time for my Bread Baker friends to share their recipes. Our theme today is biscuits! Many thanks to our host, Susan of The Wimpy Vegetarian. Check out the links below. 

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Apple Cider Biscuits
• A Messy Kitchen : Cast Iron Buttermilk Biscuits
• The Wimpy Vegetarian: Cheesy Air Fryer Biscuits with Herbs
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Cream Cheese Biscuits
• Food Lust People Love: Easy Drop Biscuits
• Sneha’s Recipe: Keto Biscuits With Almond & Coconut Flour
• Palatable Pastime: Sausage and Cheddar Biscuits

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin these Easy Drop Biscuits!

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Cheesy Pumpkin Scones #BreadBakers

Made with cheddar AND Parmesan, these cheesy pumpkin scones are tender inside and toasted golden outside, perfect for breakfast or afternoon tea. 

I’m not a big fan of pumpkin spice all the things like many people get excited for during this season but I do love actual pumpkin. In soup, pasta sauce, gnocchi, muffins and so much more. Big fan.

That’s why when our Bread Baker’s host for today’s event chose “pumpkin” for our theme, I was excited. I bought a beautiful little pumpkin and got ready to bake. 

Cheesy Pumpkin Scones

For my mashed pumpkin, I roasted wedges of pumpkin in their skins with just a light drizzle of olive oil until fork tender. Then I scooped the soft flesh out, mashed it and measured out one level cup. It weighed 255g. 

Ingredients

For the scones:

2 cups or 250g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 cup or 113g cold unsalted butter, cut in little blocks

3 1/2 oz or 100g extra sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

1 oz or 28g Parmesan, coarsely grated 

1 cup or 255g mashed pumpkin (see note above ingredients list)

Optional glaze:

1 tablespoon mashed pumpkin

1 tablespoon milk

Method

Preheat your oven to 425°F or 218°C and prepare a baking sheet lining it with baking parchment or a silicone mat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, salt and cayenne.

Use a pastry blender or a couple of knives to cut the butter into the flour. 

You want little lumps and flecks of butter still showing, not the homogenous sandy texture we want for pastry crust. 

Mix your two cheeses together and set aside a generous handful to use as topping. 

Toss the bigger pile of cheese with the flour mixture.

Add in the pumpkin. 

Fold and fold until the dough is just evenly moistened and holds together. It might look too dry at first, but the pumpkin should have enough moisture. If it truly doesn't, I shall roll my eyes at you but you can add a drizzle of water or milk.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. 

Wet your hands and use them to shape the dough into a 3/4"or 1 cm thick square. The dough won't stick to damp hands. This avoids adding extra flour to the dough which can dry it out.

Cut the square into 9 pieces. As you can see, mine weren’t very even but I’m sure you’ll do better! 

Transfer the scones to your prepared baking pan. 

Mix together the mashed pumpkin and milk to make the glaze. 

Brush onto the scones. If you don’t have any leftover pumpkin, you can brush them with just milk.

Top with the reserved grated cheese.  

Bake in your preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until puffed up and golden. Turn the baking pan around halfway through for even cooking. 

Serve warm, as is or with butter. These are so cheesy and delicious! We meant to share them with the neighbors but ended up eating them all. I made little ham sandwiches with the bigger ones. SO GOOD.

Enjoy! 

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s time for my fellow Bread Bakers and I to share our bakes. Our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm chose “pumpkin” as our theme. Check out all the links below. 

• Food Lust People Love: Cheesy Pumpkin Scones 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Sourdough Pumpkin Bread 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Sourdough Pumpkin Rolls 
• A Messy Kitchen: Pumpkin Hazelnut Babka
• Sneha's Recipe: Red Pumpkin Paratha

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin these Cheesy Pumpkin Scones!

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Fig Feta Serrano Ham Sourdough Focaccia #BreadBakers

A little bit sweet and a whole lot savory, this Fig Feta Serrano Ham Sourdough Focaccia makes a great brunch, lunch or snack with drinks. 

A while back we had a friend visiting for a few days and I knew we’d be out and about showing her the sights of this beautiful island. I wanted to prepare something that could be made ahead then baked when we got home. 

This sourdough focaccia is perfect for that. It can have its last rise in the refrigerator and is very forgiving if you leave it a little longer before baking. 

Fig Feta Serrano Ham Sourdough Focaccia

Start at least one day ahead of when you want to bake this to allow for overnight proofing. This recipe was inspired by one on the Good Food website. I’ve since made this three times and it never fails to please!

Ingredients

For the base: 

1 cup or 240ml water

1 oz or 28g bubbly active starter

2 2/3 cups or 332g strong white bread flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

For the topping:

2 tablespoons olive oil

4-5 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 purple onion

2 garlic cloves

4-5 fresh figs,

3 1/2 oz or 100g serrano ham slices

2 1/2 oz or 70g feta

flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

freshly ground black pepper

Method

In your mixing bowl, mix the starter with the water. Stir the starter and water loosely together just to lift the starter off the bottom of the bowl.

Next, add the 332g of strong white bread flour to the bowl, and the 1/2 teaspoon salt. 

Mix it all together loosely, so that it’s pretty ragged but all the flour and water is mixed; I use a Danish whisk for this first rough mix but you can use your hands, if you prefer. I follow this up using a bowl scraper to clean round the bowl and make sure it is all nicely roughly mixed together.

Cover the bowl with a shower cap or cling film, and leave it for an hour or so on the kitchen counter. 

After an hour, remove the cover, and start to lift and fold the dough to build up the structure in the dough, wake up the gluten, and bring it into a smooth ball of dough. Literally pick up a small handful of dough from one side of the bowl, lift it and fold it over the rest of the dough to the other side of the bowl. Then turn the bowl and repeat the process, do it about 20-25 times maximum, until it is a smooth ball.

Please note: you will only need to perform this many pulls and folds on this first occasion; after this, far fewer pulls and folds will be required to pull the dough into a ball before covering and leaving it again. You do NOT need to perform 20-25 each time. At this point the dough will be at its stickiest, from this point it will become less sticky with each handling.

Cover the bowl again with your same cover, and leave it out on the kitchen counter.

Over the next few hours, perform sets of the pulls and folds/lifting and folding actions 2 to 4 more times; these do not need to be done at fixed time periods apart, as long as you fit in sufficient sets during that time, that’s the key. Aim for 4 sets in total. The dough will not be starting to grow at this stage.

Each time you perform these pulls and folds, stop when the dough comes into a ball, that is the dough telling you it has had enough handling at that stage.

Complete the final set, pulling the dough into a nice firm ball, then re-cover the bowl, and leave it on the counter overnight. This is often called the “bulk fermentation” period.

The ideal temperature for this is between 64°F- 68°F or 18°C – 20°C for 8-10 hours. If it is a lot colder than this, it will take longer, just give it a few more hours. 

The next morning, the dough should have really grown within the bowl, to at least double, with a smoothish, slightly domed surface. There should be a nice structure to the dough, it does not need to be bubbly, just grown. 

Prepare a large baking tray by lining it with parchment. 

Using a bowl scraper or your hands, gently ease the bubbly risen dough from the bowl and let it fall onto the parchment. Gently stretch it out. 

Pour over about half of the olive oil. Cover loosely and leave it on the counter to prove again for 1 1/2 – 2 hours. If you won’t be home to bake then, you can pop the dough in the refrigerator for a longer rise time. 

When you are ready to bake, take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature. 

Slice the onion as thinly as possible. Remove the stems and quarter the figs. Crumble the feta and mince the garlic. Pick the thyme leaves off the stems. 

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Tear the ham into bits. 

Use your finger tips to firmly press dimples all over the dough. Toss the thyme leaves, onion, garlic, figs, ham and feta with one tablespoon olive oil, then scatter these over the top. 

Use your fingers to press the toppings into the bread a little, and spread the bread to fill any gaps. 

Cover loosely with oiled cling film and leave to rise for 20 minutes more until it has puffed up.

Drizzle over the remaining oil, sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper, and bake for 30 mins until risen, golden and crisp on top. 

Leave to cool in the pan for 15 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cut into rectangles to serve. Enjoy! 

It’s the second Tuesday of the month which means it’s the day my fellow Bread Bakers and I share our recipes, this time for sourdough bread. Many thanks to our host Radha of Magical Ingredientst.

• Food Lust People Love: Fig Feta Serrano Ham Sourdough Focaccia
• Sneha's Recipe: Quick Sourdough Discard Burger Buns
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Sourdough Seeded Bread with Tangzhong
• A Messy Kitchen : Hot Honey Sourdough 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Sourdough Multi-Grain Bread
• Zesty South Indian Kitchen: Sourdough Jewish Rye Bread

 

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Fig Feta Serrano Ham Sourdough Focaccia!

.