A couple of weeks back I got the recipe to make Benne Biscuit or Butter Biscuit from a friend but something kept coming up and I just couldn't get any baking done. Couple of days back though I got my fix with a full day of baking. I baked over 100 biscuits (Mom was having a family lunch and wanted some for tea) and even managed to bake some cookies for the dogs. :D
The biscuits turned out beautifully and everyone loved them. (Thanks @Kavitz for the recipe.) The recipe's easy to follow and the biscuit dough is quick to make, of course baking takes ages but when something good is baking, it always feels like that, doesn't it :P The biscuits also have besan and sooji in them and that makes for less maida which I really like, as it makes the biscuits more healthy.
Alright, a quick note before I get to the recipe. Below is Kavitha's recipe but I've played and tweaked with the method a bit so, if you get good results it's Kavitz's doing and if not, it's mine :) Well, not really, maybe bad biscuits just means you need to try again :P
Benne or Butter Biscuit
Ingredients -
(Makes around 20-24 biscuits)
1/2 cup or 115 gms butter
1/2 to 2/3 cup sugar (based on your sweet tooth)
1/3 cup maida (all-purpose flour)
1/3 cup fine rava (sooji, semolina)
1/2 cup besan (chickpea flour)
1/4 tsp baking powder
Optional: Add 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Dry fruits like almonds, cashew, pista, walnut, raisins, etc.
Method:
1. Lightly roast the rava on a small/medium flame until it changes colour to off-white.
2. Crush or grind the sugar to get a mix of powder and crushed crystals. A baker once told me the secret to sugar in baking was adding it as crystals to butter and letting them melt while baking to add air to the biscuit or cake. However the regular sugar I get from the shop has big crystals that do not breakdown in the butter creaming process or fully melt in the baking so I crush them. If you're using 'Parry's' sugar crushing may not be required as the crystals are already small.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
4. Cream the butter a bit in a bowl before adding the crushed sugar. Continue creaming until the butter lightens to lemon yellow and gives off this lovely buttery smell. :) For biscuits I usually cream by hand and that means a good 20 minutes of creaming so I take breaks and do it in four parts or more. :P
5. In another bowl add the maida, besan, rava and baking powder (and cardamom if you wish). Mix them well to get a uniform mixture.
6. Add the flour mix to the creamed butter and knead to make a soft dough.
7. Prepare a baking tray lined with greased baking paper.
8. Make little patties out of the dough. I used a 1/2 tsp measure to get similar sized biscuits. Roll and slightly flatten the balls before placing them on the tray.
9. I didn't land up using dry fruits but at this point you can add shredded dry fruits to the top of the patties. Push them half into the biscuit to make sure they don't burn at the top.
10. Bake the biscuits for about 13-15 minutes. If you like your biscuits being a bit moist in the center, remove them from the oven when golden. If you like them dry and crisp leave them in a minute extra so they get a touch of brown before you remove them.
11. Allow them to cool on a wire rack and then eat to your hearts content :)
I'm always on the look out for healthy biscuits; that way I don't have to worry too much about Che's middle of the night binges. Have you made any healthy biscuits lately? Any biscuits that I must try baking? Any suggestions at all? :)
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