Biscuit Dough Problem

[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday, I tried a new recipe, "Peach Cobbler with Cinnamon-Swirl Biscuits." While it tasted great, I had a problem with the biscuit dough which was very sticky, and did not roll up without tearing and making a mess. I cut them and put them on anyway, and while it did not look like the neat ones in the magazine picture, the taste was great.

Here are the biscuit ingredients:
1 Cup AP flour (more on this below)
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt (I omitted as I used salted butter)
1/4 cup butter--that would be 4 Tbs. or 2 ounces
1/3 cup milk

Now, I did substitute in 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour. I've done that sort of thing with biscuits before. Maybe I should have weighed the flours to make sure I used enough to get the same weight as 1 cup AP flour. The dough was horribly sticky, and I had to add flour, and it was still sticky. After I had brushed it with butter and sprinkled it with the cinnamon, brown sugar, and walnut filling, it was sticking to my Silpat mat and tearing as I tried rolled it into a log with big holes along the sides. I was able to cut it and plunk them down on the cobbler. It tasted great, but the presentation was sloppy.

Was it the weight of the flour? Or, was it perhaps the amount of butter?

I compared it with David Lee's biscuit recipe, and the one thing I noted is that this recipe uses twice as much butter, and I wonder if that is too much. I'd appreciate any thoughts, as I like this recipe enough that I hope to make it again--maybe even with other fruit, and I'd like to have a less sloppy presentation.

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[Mike Nolan]

I don't make biscuits from scratch very often (my wife actually prefers Bisquick), but this recipe uses a little more butter and a little more milk than the recipe I've used the most, so if you also under-measured the flour that would definitely explain why it was sticky. I suspect the milk was more of a problem than the butter. (I assume the butter wasn't melted.)

[RiversideLen]

My thoughts on weighing flour. As we know, there are different opinions on what a cup of flour weighs. If you use the scoop and sweep method, a cup might weigh roughly 4.5 to 5 ounces. The KA chart shows a cup of AP weighs 4.25 ounces (if I'm remembering right). ATK says a cup weighs 5 ounces. When you try a recipe you haven't made before, you don't know how much their cup weighed but I suspect in most cases it's closer to 5 ounces then to 4.25. So, you have to go through trial and error until you get it right. For most bread recipes, if you're experienced, it's fairly easy as you know what the dough should look and feel like. But it's more difficult for cookies, cakes etc.

[BakerAunt]

I used Gold Medal flour for the regular flour. I measured it by spooning the flour into the cup and leveling it. However, since this is a BH&G magazine from 2002, perhaps their kitchen used the scoop method. (I did until KAF recipes enlightened me.) The magazine does not include a section that reviews techniques, but Riverside Len's point is a good one. I will make a note on the recipe to reduce the milk (try 3 Tbs. next time) and perhaps increase the flour. I'll also weigh it next time and make a note.

[Mike Nolan]

To add to the confusion over the 'proper' weight of a cup of flour, the USDA says a cup of unbleached AP flour weighs 125 grams 4.4 ounces.

I tend to use the KAF 4.25 ounces standard, because its usually easier to add flour than to readjust everything else once you add too much flour.

[KIDPIZZA]

BAKERAUBT:
Good afternoon. is there any possibility that you in measuring the milk that you TRANSPOSED the 4, TBLS of milk to 4, oz of milk.
If you did... this amount plus the liquid amount in the butter comes to 71.5% hydration. Much more than the approx. of 60/62% hydration that is normaly required....just a thought.

Enjoy the weekend my friend.

~CASS.

[BakerAunt]

Hello, Cass. The recipe said 1/4 cup butter and 1/3 cup milk, so I didn't transpose it. However, that means I had even more liquid in it.

I'm wondering if part of the problem is that I used 1% milk. (The recipe merely states "milk.") I almost used buttermilk. When I try the recipe again, I'll hold back on the milk, and I may try buttermilk.

I don't think it was the flour measurement, since I tried another recipe from the magazine, and the proportions were fine, even with my substituting in whole wheat pastry flour.

[S_Wirth]

Here is the peach cobbler recipe I have used for a long time:

Peach Cobbler

It has a biscuit topping and I have used buttermilk for the biscuit dough.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by S_Wirth.

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