Whiteley Creek Homestead

I made this "squeaky clean" on-the-run apple drop biscuits recipe two times in the past week. Both times they didn't form a characteristic biscuit mound like the photo in my January/February 2010 issue of Clean Eating Magazine. The recipe calls for 4 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp baking soda. I immediately questioned what I thought was an excessive amount of baking powder but added it anyway. The biscuit dough instantly doubled in size and I knew I should have listened to my instincts. The biscuits quickly deflated as they baked due to overzealous expansion. The end product was lightweight but flattened. Today I decreased the baking powder to 1 tsp and and still went with the 1/2 tsp soda. They poofed up like before, possibly not quite as much, and again deflated in the oven. In my third future attempt, I am going to use 1 tsp baking powder and leave out the 1/2 tsp soda altogether thinking that it might be what is causing the inflation. They are biscuits afterall… baking powder biscuits. Why am I pursuing this one recipe so persistently? For one, that tends to be my nature… but, most importantly, the recipe's ingredients are impressive and the biscuits are really very tasty and tender. So, I say try a little tweaking in your own kitchen and I will do the same. When they finally come out of the oven in the mounds I am looking for, I will share my results. 

Apple Drop Biscuits

1 cup spelt flour

¾ cup oat or millet flour (I used oat one time and millet the next. Both are excellent choices.)

4 tsp 1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp baking soda (I’m going to try eliminating this.)

1/8 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp raw honey

¼ cup olive oil (I used 1 tbsp olive oil + 3 tbsp applesauce.)

1 cup low-fat plain yogurt or nonfat Greek-style yogurt (I used homemade.)

1 cup unpeeled grated apples

Substitute carrots or pears in place of the apples to change things up a bit each time you bake a batch.

Preheat oven to 400°. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together honey, oil + applesauce, yogurt, and apples. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and combine. Do not overmix. Mist a baking sheet with cooking spray or line with natural unbleached parchment paper. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheet, 1 inch apart. Sprinkle Oat Topping (below) on top of each biscuit. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until biscuits are golden.

Oat Topping

¼ cup old-fashioned (not instant) rolled oats

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp organic evaporated cane juice or Sucanat