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Monday, December 19, 2011

Secret Recipe Club: Parmesan Cornmeal Biscuits

There are so many wonderful food blogs out there but not nearly enough hours in the day to find them all.  Thanks to the Secret Recipe Club, I am fortunate enough to be introduced to a new one every month.  Sometimes I'm familiar with the blog but most of the time it's new to me.  I love getting to add new blogs to my Reader and this has proven to be a great way to find worthwhile sites.

This month I was assigned to Ann's blog, Sumptuous Spoonfuls.  Sumptuous is a such a luscious descriptive word and her photos and recipes fit the bill.  Ann is a self-proclaimed "health freak" and tries to cut the sugar and fat where possible.  Hello?  Are we twins?  I have personal mental guidelines that a recipe must adhere to before it ever gets bookmarked.  It was so nice to know that as I read through Ann's bounty of recipes, I didn't have to worry about a ton of butter, sugar, or additives.  If you can make things like Berry White Chocolate Scones and Magical Mystical Chocolate Pudding Cake with less sugar?  Sign me up!  I ended up settling on her Parmesan Cornmeal Biscuits.

I'm here to tell you, these biscuits are incredible.  I love the slight crunch from the cornmeal, mixed with the airiness of the flour.  I love that she used yogurt instead of milk or buttermilk.  I subbed Gruyere cheese in place of the parmesan and it proved to be a wonderful match!  They came together so quickly and were a smashing hit.  They got my bread-lovin' mom's seal of approval as well - and that's saying something!  I highly, highly recommend these versatile little gems.  I dare you to try to eat just one (:


Gruyere Cornmeal Biscuits
slightly adapted from Sumptuous Spoonfuls

1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup 50/50 flour (white/wheat blend)
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 T. sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
5 T. chilled butter
1/3 cup freshly grated Gruyere cheese
1 large egg
1 cup plain low-fat or fat-free Greek yogurt

Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Mix first 8 ingredients (flour through baking soda) in a large bowl.
  3. Cut butter into small bits and mix in with a pastry cutter, 2 knives or use your fingers to blend until butter is blended in and mixture is a coarse meal.
  4. Add Gruyere cheese and mix until blended.
  5. In a small bowl, whisk egg and yogurt until smooth.
  6. Add the egg/yogurt mixture to flour mixture. Stir well to mix into a moist, thick batter.  Add a little more flour if the batter is still really sticky.
  7. Turn the batter onto a well-floured surface and sprinkle with flour.
  8. Roll to 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick and cut into shapes.
  9. Bake at 400 for 15 – 20 minutes or until nicely browned on top.

12 comments:

  1. Oooh, love the combination of flavors and the crunch of the cornmeal! Will have to give these a try. Thanks!
    Oh, and Danielle, your boys are absolutely beautiful!!

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  2. These do sound delicious. Great SRC post. Hope you have a wonderful holiday, especially with those two cuties!!!!

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  3. These look great! I love the SRC concept and am having a hard time not signing up. Merry Christmas!

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  4. Yay you picked one of my very favorite recipes! I am so so glad you liked them. And very glad you didn't forget the egg ;)

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  5. Great job, Danielle...these look WONDERFUL!

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  6. Wow - what a perfect biscuit. Love the addition of parmesan. Glad to be part of SRC with you. Happy Holidays!!

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  7. Yummy biscuits. You picked a great recipe for SRC. Merry Christmas.

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  8. Yum! These biscuits look great! I love that you used gruyere. That's one of my favorites.

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  9. Mmmm, biscuits are one of my weaknesses and these look sooo good with the gruyere - yum!

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  10. Oh my goodness. YUM!!! I want these for dinner tonight! Come link up with my linky party at The Southern Institute, if you haven't already. Each link is an entry in the Pick Your Plum giveaway! Here's the link:

    http://www.thesoutherninstitute.com/2011/12/creative-me-monday_18.html

    Hope to see you there!

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  11. These look and sound so delicious. I absolutely love anything with cornmeal and can't wait to try these out. :)

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