Herbed Cranberry Cornmeal Biscuits

  

Herbed Cranberry Cornmeal Biscuits are flaky and buttery, with the perfect balance of tangy cranberries and savory thyme.  These tender biscuits would be a welcome addition to your Thanksgiving table, or any meal!    

If you're like me, you probably relish cooking and baking with cranberries every autumn.  As the days become cooler, it's the perfect opportunity to whip up batch after batch of fragrant cranberry muffins, cranberry-orange breads, and cranberry cakes (like this recipe for Cranberry Apple Cake with White Chocolate Glaze).  But if you're anything like me, you typically stick to sweet, dessert-type uses for cranberries.   

That is, until I made these Herbed Cranberry Cornmeal Biscuits.  These biscuits still have a hint of sweetness thanks to the brown sugar that is incorporated into the dough.  However, these biscuits also feature a pinch of dried thyme, creating a savory undertone that perfectly contrasts the tartness of the dried cranberries.  A handful of cornmeal lends a nutty flavor to these biscuits, but they still retain a flaky, buttery texture.  

 

I'm not usually one to introduce new dishes during the holidays for fear of breaking tradition.  But this recipe is so delicious that I can't imagine anyone would object if these biscuits made an appearance at the Thanksgiving table.  And I'm sure we'll be enjoying them at other times of the year, too!  

A few tips about this recipe: To achieve the ultimate flakiness, be certain that your butter is as cold as possible.  I cut the butter into small cubes, and then placed it back in the fridge for a few moments before proceeding with this recipe.  Also, you'll add the butter in two separate steps.  In step 2, you'll use your fingertips to rub a portion of the butter into the flour.  In step 3, you'll use a pastry blender to "cut" the remaining butter into the flour.  Don't have a pastry blender?  No problem!  Just use two butter knives as a makeshift pastry blender.  Hold a knife in each hand, and pull the knives through the flour/butter mixture in a crisscross fashion, until the butter has been cut into pea-sized pieces.  Another tip for achieving flaky, light layers?  Before cutting the biscuits, fold the dough in half, as pictured below.  This automatically creates layers in the dough.  

Step 4: Roll dough into a rectangle. 

Step 4: Fold rectangle in half

Step 4: Folded dough helps to create flaky layers. Yum!

(click here for printable recipe)

Herbed Cranberry Cornmeal Biscuits
(adapted from this recipe by Food Network)

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cups cornmeal
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. salt
• 6 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cubed (divided)
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, thyme, brown sugar, and salt. Using your fingertips, rub 2 tablespoons of cold cubed butter into the dough until fully incorporated.  
3. With a pastry blender or two knives, blend remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into the dough.  Continuing blending/cutting until butter pieces are the size of peas.  Use a wooden spoon to stir in buttermilk, just until dough is moistened.  Fold in cranberries.  
4. Place dough on a lightly-floured work surface.  Use your hands to pat dough into a rectangle that is approximately 12" long by 9" wide.  Then, fold dough in half so that it is approximately 6" long and 9" wide.  
5. Use a floured biscuit cutter to cut 6 or 7 biscuits.  Gather scraps of dough together and reshape dough into a rectangle. Cut another 2-3 biscuits (I used a three-inch biscuit cutter and had 9 biscuits).
6. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 15 minutes, until tops and bottoms are lightly browned.  Serve immediately.  

Yield: Approximately 9 three-inch biscuits.  

(click here for printable recipe)

As with all biscuits, these are best served immediately as they come out of the oven.  If you have any leftovers, you can simply freeze and reheat in the toaster or microwave.  But I highly doubt you'll have any leftovers!