Raspberry Thyme Goat Cheese Biscuits

Raspberry thyme goat cheese biscuits are the perfect treat with a hot cup of coffee or afternoon tea. Tender and flaky, with just the right touch of raspberry sweetness to compliment the thyme and creamy goat cheese.

After five months of snow flurries on the 45th Parallel, the anticipation of blooming crocuses that accompany the spring thaw is almost unbearable. Come April, I begin an internal countdown to warm, sunny days, an abundance of fresh berries, and a (hopefully) flourishing herb garden. Come April? I crave sunshine, berries and fresh herbs in All the Things. These cravings dovetailed nicely with this week’s Sundays With Joy assignment. 

The Sundays with Joy Crew is baking Whole Wheat Honey Goat Cheese Drop Biscuits from Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes. While I’ve often worked various hard cheeses into my favorite biscuit recipe, I was completely intrigued by the idea of including goat cheese. I perused Joy’s recipe and while it looks lovely, the recipe only makes 8 drop biscuits. With four growing boys and a Bacon Slaying husband, eight biscuits in my house means that likely half of us won’t get a biscuit. Those of us whom lollygag on our way to the kitchen will be left wondering if the biscuits ever really existed because the only part of them that will remain after the first wave arrives will be the buttery aroma.

Rather than follow the recipe in the cookbook, I opted to modify my usual whole wheat biscuit recipe to ensure that none of us would go biscuitless. Believe you me! I do not want to tangle with a pack of hungry wolves growing boys that miss out on a piping hot biscuit on Saturday morning.

Not a pretty sight.

Raspberry Thyme Goat Cheese Biscuits are a gorgeous sight on a Saturday morning–or any other morning of the week.

Aesthetics aside, it’s a proven fact that no one can be crabby in the presence of such sweet, flaky raspberry biscuits with just the faintest hint of savory goat cheese and thyme–one bite and you’re filled with the promise of warm, sunnier days to come.

Go ahead and let the sun shine in with whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, 2% milk, Half and Half, baking powder, kosher salt, granulated sugar, raspberries, fresh thyme, honey goat cheese, and unsalted butter.

Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Strip the leaves off a few sprigs of fresh thyme and add them to the mix. Make a well in the center, and grate the butter into the well. Gently toss the butter shreds to distribute. Combine the milk and half & half before gradually stirring it into the butter mixture to form a slightly sticky dough. Transfer the dough to a well floured surface, and dust with flour.

Lightly pat the biscuit dough into a large rectangle.

Since I’ve made biscuits around here a time or two, I didn’t go into all that much detail with the dough-making process and photographs.

If you’d like more detailed illustrations, click here or here.

Slice the goat cheese into 1/4-inch cubes.

Sprinkle half of the goat cheese over half of the biscuit dough, leaving a one-quarter inch edge around. Fold the opposite half of the dough over the cheese cubes, and press to seal. Turn the dough one-quarter turn and repeat the process with the remaining goat cheese.

Gently knead the biscuit dough back into a large rectangle. Halve the raspberries lengthwise with a sharp knife. Dot half of the dough with raspberry halves, fold the opposite side of the dough over top, press to seal, turn and repeat with the remaining berries, just as with the goat cheese. Once the berries have been sealed inside the dough, grab a rolling pin and softly roll the dough into a large rectangle, with no more than 1/2-inch thickness throughout.

The thickness of the biscuit dough is important! Roll it too thin, and the biscuits will come out like hockey pucks; roll it too thick and…well…bad things will happen.*

Cut biscuit rounds with a 2 1/2-inch cutter, placing them two inches apart on the prepared baking sheets, and re-rolling the dough as necessary.

Put the freshly cut biscuits in the refrigerator to firm things up a bit before baking.

After ten minutes in the chill-chest, brush the tops of the biscuits with a little half and half and a dusting of sugar before popping them in the oven to bake for twelve minutes, or until golden brown.

*These are the “bad things” that I eluded to when talking about rolling out the biscuit dough. These biscuits were cut way too thick–at least an inch tall. With all of the expansion going on while baking, the flaky layers got a little overzealous and poofed up and over themselves. Don’t worry if this happens to you–it just means that the biscuits are so full of awesome that it can not be contained.

When Bacon Slayer took a bite, his eyes lit up and the first words out of his mouth were, “These are awesome!” Actually, the first words out of his mouth sounded more like, “Theef aw wee wee awfum.”

We’ve been together a long time–I speak Baconese.

Right about now is when I should share the recipe for the raspberry thyme goat cheese biscuits.

But today, I’m going to do a little something different. Today I’m going to end with a sneak peak into my photography process.

Once I’ve scoped out the best natural light source around the house, I set the scene and grab my camera. In this case, the light was best in my dining room–specifically on the floor next to a large window. Photographing anything on the floor while keeping it at eye level requires laying in weird sub-yoga positions.

What can I say? I’m a slave to the craft. 😉

This time, The Baby was insisting on being my photography assistant. For the most part, I was able to get him to stay out of my light be helpful.

However, after awhile all The Baby cared about was eating raspberry thyme goat cheese biscuits. “Are we done yet mama? I’m wee wee hungry. Can we haf rasp-bear-wee biscuits now?”

And…we were done. I can deny that sweet face absolutely nothing.

Enjoy your biscuits!

♥♥♥

Kirsten Kubert

Yields 18

Raspberry Thyme Goat Cheese Biscuits

Inspired by Joy the Baker's Raspberry Thyme Goat Cheese Biscuits, from the Joy the Baker Cookbook

15 minPrep Time

14 minCook Time

29 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

For the Biscuits
• 2 C. 100% White Whole Wheat flour
• 2 C. all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbs. baking powder
• 3 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 10 Tbs. very cold, unsalted butter
• 1 ¼ C. 2% milk
• ½ C. Half and Half
• 2 oz. honey goat cheese, cubed
• 2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
• 1/3 C. fresh raspberries, halved lengthwise
For the Topping:
• 1 Tbs. Half and Half
• 2 tsp. granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats; set aside.
2. In a large, bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Sprinkle the thyme leaves over the flour mixture and lightly stir to distribute. Use a box grater to grate the butter into the dry ingredients. Gently toss the shredded butter with clean fingertips, to coat.
3. Gradually add 1 ¼ C. of milk, lightly stirring to combine. Dough should just come together and pull away from the side of the bowl, without being too wet or overly sticky. Gradually add the  ½ C. of Half and Half, lightly stirring to combine. Dough should just come together and pull away from the side of the bowl, without being too wet or overly sticky. All of the milk may not be required for the dough to come together, depending on flour density and/or humidity.
4. Turn dough out onto a clean and lightly floured work surface or pastry mat. Lightly flour the top of the dough. Then, gently flatten the dough with your hands to form a 1-inch thick rectangle. Gently knead the dough by folding it onto itself and lightly flattening into another rectangle. Sprinkle half of the goat cheese cubes over half of the dough. Fold the opposite half over the goat cheese half and press to seal. Turn the dough a one-quarter turn and press back into a rectangle. Scatter the remaining goat cheese on half, press to seal, turn, and press into a rectangle. Now repeat the process with the raspberries:  place half of the raspberries over half of the rectangle, fold the other half of the rectangle over them, press to seal.  Turn the dough one-quarter of a turn, press into a rectangle, place the remaining raspberries over half of the dough. Fold the opposite half of the dough over the raspberries, press to seal. It is very important to have a light touch to not over-work dough or the biscuits will be tough. Slow and gentle is the key.
5. Pat or roll the kneaded dough into a large rectangle, ½-inch thick. Cut the biscuits as close together as possible using a 2½-inch diameter biscuit cutter. Push straight down to cut the biscuits. Avoid turning the biscuit cutter, as biscuits will not rise as well if cutter is turned when biscuits are cut. Piece together remaining dough, and repeat the process until all of the dough is used.
6. Place biscuits onto prepared baking sheets. Brush the tops of the biscuits with a touch of Half and Half before dusting with additional sugar. Bake biscuits for 12-14 minutes, or until tops just begin to brown around the edges, and biscuits are puffy.
7. Serve warm, or cool completely on a wire rack. Biscuits store well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days.

Notes

Yield: Eighteen (2 ½ inch) biscuits

7.8.1.2

278

https://comfortablydomestic.com/2013/04/raspberry-thyme-goat-cheese-biscuits/

Comfortably Domestic - 2016