Tea Biscuits

I love these biscuits with stew, but Molly prefers them with jam.  The original recipe came from my mum, but I’ve switched the white flour for whole wheat, and use butter instead of shortening.  And I’ve doubled the quantities because they taste so good that a smaller batch isn’t enough.

• 4 c whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 c butter
• 1 ½ c milk

Mix dry ingredients in a big bowl.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender, or two knives.  Add milk all at once, and let it sit a minute before stirring.  Stir just enough to make it all hang together, kneading through a few times, then chill for 10-20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.  Roll or press the dough flat, about ¾ inch thick and cut into shapes or pieces.  Doing a circle and cutting it in wedges is easiest, but squares are easier to spread jam onto.  If you want to get really fancy (or amuse your kids) use cookie cutters to make shapes, although anything with too much detail will be lost.

Bake at 400ºF for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Makes about 2 to 2 ½ dozen biscuits.

Pancakes

These are based on a recipe from my grandmother.  She used regular milk and all purpose flour, but I really like the taste and fluffy texture of these, plus they are more nutritious.    Don’t be tempted to use anything other than butter to fry the pancakes – the flavour just won’t be the same.  I like them served with maple syrup and lemon juice, but berry sauce (tomorrow’s recipe) is tasty too.

•  1 c buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 c, plus 2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• butter

Measure milk into a large measuring cup (mine holds 6 cups) or a medium size bowl.  Beat in egg.  Add flour and salt, and beat well.  Let it sit while you get the pan ready and set the table.  Just before you start to fry the pancakes, beat in the baking powder.

Melt a tsp or so of butter in your pan, and when it is sizzling hot spoon in the batter – about an 1/8 of cup per pancake.  Fry in batches until all the batter is used up, being sure to add more butter to the pan before each new batch.

Serve with butter, maple syrup, and/or berry sauce.  Or try my personal favourite of maple syrup with just a dash of lemon juice.

A special treat variation:  add ½ c chocolate chips to the batter.  I don’t recommend adding fresh fruit to pancakes, since it will just make them stick and burn.  Fresh fruit is lovely spread on top of pancakes though, especially with maple syrup over top.

Makes about 12 medium sized pancakes.

Tip for pancakes and waffles:  Freeze any leftovers (in a single layer or with something like parchment or clean milk bags in between layers).  To re-heat, toast in toaster.

Banana Waffles

If you like light and crispy waffles, these aren’t for you.  These are rich, filling, and super satisfying after a good workout.  If you want them more light and crispy, you can separate the eggs and fold in the beaten whites at the end.

• 3 eggs
• 1 c milk
• ¼  c butter, melted
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 1 ½ c whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/3 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder

Beat eggs in a bowl until thick.  Beat in milk and butter.  In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients.  Sift into egg mixture and mix well.  Stir in bananas.  Adjust texture – should be thick but pourable (use milk to thin or flour to thicken).  Cook according to waffle iron instructions.

Serve with maple syrup.  No need for butter – they are rich enough without it!

Makes about 12 big waffles.

Tip:  Freeze any leftovers (in a single layer or with something like parchment or clean milk bags in between layers).  To re-heat, toast in toaster.  This makes them crisper than the first time around.

Whole Wheat Bread

Filling your home with the smell of fresh baked bread is simply wonderful.  This recipe makes three hearty and flavourful loaves.  If you are pressed for time, you can skip the sponge stage, but the bread won’t taste quite as good, or develop quite as much texture.  It’s best to choose a day to make this when you will be home most of the day, and dinner doesn’t need to be baked.  Humid summer days really speed up the rising times, but having the oven on may not be ideal. The density of whole wheat flour is quite variable, so it is hard to specify exactly how much you’ll need.

This bread will keep for about 10 days, but you might want to freeze one loaf so that it doesn’t dry out too much in the winter, or go mouldy in the summer.  I’ve never got the point of baking one loaf at a time, or the assumption that day old bread isn’t edible.  Some bread that is very low in fat will dry out quickly and taste stale, but this recipe includes enough fat for the bread to stay fresh for a fairly long time.  It won’t be great for sandwiches after a week of sitting out, but it will still make great toast.

• ¼ cup butter
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup molasses
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 cup lukewarm water (about 70 ^oF)
• 1 tsp sugar or honey
• 1 heaped tbsp of active dry yeast (not the instant kind)
• 5-8 cups hard whole wheat flour

Place the butter, milk, molasses and salt in a small pot and heat until butter melts.  Stir in the cup of cold water and set aside to cool.

Mix the sugar/honey into the warm water in a large bowl.  Sprinkle yeast over surface, and let sit for about 10 minutes, until it’s foamy.

Check the contents of the pot to make sure they are not too hot – otherwise adding it will kill the yeast.  When it’s ready, add the pot contents to the big bowl.

Stir in 1 cup of flour at a time, until the mixture has the texture of thick mud.  This usually takes about 2 and half cups of flour.  Cover with a damp tea towel, and let sit in a warm place that is free of drafts.  I usually put it in the oven.  If it’s cold in the house, I turn on the oven light for a bit to make it warm in there.  This is called letting it sponge.  Leave it at least 2 hours, but not more than 24.

Stir in more flour until using a spoon doesn’t work.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead in more flour until it has the right texture – not too sticky, and yields to pressure about like belly fat does.  Kneading usually takes about five to ten minutes.

Wash the bowl, dry it, and butter it with your hands.  Use your hands to rub a bit of butter all over the dough.  Cover it with a damp tea towel, and let rise in awarm place with no drafts until it has doubled in size, usually 1-2 hours.

Knead the dough through ten times, and divide it into three loaves.  Cover it with the towel and let the dough rest while you prepare the pans.  Butter the pans with your fingers, being sure to get right into the corners as well as over the tops and down the sides a bit, so that as the dough rises over the top of the pans it won’t stick.  Press the dough into the pans, and cover with the towel again, re-dampening it if necessary.  Let rise until doubled, up over the tops of the pans, usually 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400^o F.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Loaves will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom when they are done.  Remove loaves from pans, and cool on a wire rack.