Biscuit hat trick

Last night I successfully completed a biscuit hat trick. For Christmas, I got Alton Brown's ultimate baking guide: I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking. (Alton Brown is the host of one of my favorite cooking shows, Good Eats.) I'm not the greatest baker (I like to blame it on an oven that's as old as I am ... but I know that's just an excuse), so I was really excited to get this cookbook/baking manual for Christmas.

It has a separate section on each baking method: the Muffin Method, the Biscuit Method, Creaming, the Straight Dough Method, etc. I decided last week to try out the biscuit method first; it seemed harmless enough. I have a tendency to be a yeast killer, and biscuits (thankfully for the yeast) don't have any!

My first attempt was a plain old biscuits, a real Southern standby. It was pretty sticky business, I got flour everywhere (including on my dog who was diligently keeping the floor clean of any stray biscuit batter drops), but I had a lot of fun. The biscuits came out pretty good, although they were slightly on the small side. Okay, honestly, I used the wrong size biscuit cutter and they turned out to be just larger than quarters. But they tasted good (especially toasted with a dollop of strawberry preserves on top), which is what matters.

Embolded by the success, I decided to try another biscuit method recipe: wheat crackers. Wheat crackers?!? Last time I checked, they were not a whole lot like fluffy biscuits, but the baking manual assured me that they indeed were. Think biscuits without all the leavening power. Okay, I'll give it a shot. To my surprise, they actually turned out alright. I put the first batch in the oven a little too long (didn't hear the timer go off) but they were still pretty good. I don't think Wheat Thins has anything to worry about for awhile, but they were fun to make and eat. (In fact, most of them are already gone.)

Last night I completed the biscuit hat trick with a blackberry grunt --- kind of like a cobbler to you Southern raised folk. Wow, it was really really tasty. Tart and not too sweet. Definitely the favorite of the three.

So maybe there is a little baker inside of me somewhere after all... Only time will tell.