Gibson - Muffins & Biscuits: 50 Recipes to Start Your Day With a Smile

Text copyright 2017 by Heidi Gibson.
Photographs copyright 2017 by Antonis Achilleos.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 9781452158303 (epub)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gibson, Heidi, 1972- author. | Achilleos, Antonis, photographer.
Title: Muffins & biscuits : 50 recipes to start your day with a smile / Heidi
Gibson ; photographs by Antonis Achilleos.
Other titles: Muffins and biscuits
Description: San Francisco : Chronicle Books, [2017] | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016021108 | ISBN 9781452158259 (hc : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Muffins. | Biscuits. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.
Classification: LCC TX770.M83 G53 2017 | DDC 641.81/57dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016021108

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Typesetting by Frank Brayton

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Ive been making muffins and biscuits since I was seven years old. As soon as I could read my mothers cookbooks, I tore through them like they were romance novels (which, for me, they were), astonished by the range of what I could make just by following the directions. Muffins were my first love: so easy, with nearly instant gratification, and so many varieties! My vivid childhood memories of making (and eating) muffins have been the inspiration for many of the recipes in this book. I used to make what I called surprise muffins, which come with a spoonful of jam hidden in the middle, and they helped me develop the recipe for my Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins choux pastry, which resulted in elaborate towers of profiteroles and cream puffs at family dinners. But I always came back to my first lovemuffins.

My mother has recounted for me the story of her first stab at baking biscuits numerous times. As a new bride in her early twenties, she baked some biscuits that became the joke of the marriage. They were so hard, flat, and tasteless that both she and my dad burst out laughing and actually played catch with them at the dinner table instead of eating them. Shes been an excellent home baker as long as I can remember (her sticky buns are legendary and her challah once won first place at the state fair), and I was always skeptical of this story, but it has stuck with me. Biscuits are so simple, how could anyone go so astray?

I made it my mission to understand the chemistry and physics of biscuits so that I could make the flakiest, fluffiest, and tastiest ones possible. Ive made hundreds, probably thousands, of batches of biscuits trying to master the art of biscuit making. In my quest Ive discovered the great variations in biscuit styles and how attached people are to their family recipe. In a few cases, folks have admitted to me that they dont even like their family biscuit recipe, but nostalgia or loyalty compels them to continue using it anyway. Biscuits, for a lot of us, are like that: they have a history, a universal appeal, an almost primitive connection from having been passed down through generations. I also have yet to find anyone who doesnt like biscuits. Sure, some folks prefer fluffy, some prefer flaky, but everyone loves a good, warm, buttery biscuit. My goal with this book is to explore some of the many traditional styles of biscuit to help all of you establish your own family traditions with your favorites.

My husband, Nate, and I own a restaurant, The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen, and a few months after we opened, we added breakfast to the menu. I have to admit that the decision to do so was as much based on my desire to start baking muffins every day as it was on sound business logic. Fortunately, our regulars liked the muffins as much as I did, and I had a lot of fun coming up with new filling combinations for our customers to try; the best of those experiments are in this book. We added biscuits to the breakfast lineup a couple of months after that, and they were an instant hit. Customers in a hurry could get a fresh biscuit to munch on while heading to the office, or in a couple of extra minutes we could send them on their way with a warm egg-and-cheese biscuit sandwich.

We now serve a variety of from-scratch, freshly baked muffins and biscuits every day at The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen. We use the Perfectly Easy Cream Biscuit recipe have become my go-to biscuit recipe at home when Im able to plan a day ahead. The dough comes together nearly as quickly as that for the Cream Biscuits and then sits overnight so that the yeast can do its magic. I can pop them in the oven while preparing the rest of the meal and have one less detail to stress over while pulling together dinner.

Home bakers, especially beginners, will appreciate how friendly muffins and biscuits are. They require no special equipment, training, or expertise and a minimum amount of elbow grease. In fact, the less you mix the batter and handle the dough, the better. Theyre rustic and homey, and popular with people of all ages. There is, in my humble opinion, nothing else quite like them in their universal appeal and accessibility in the world of traditional American cuisine. I hope you discover something that surprises or delights you in this book and that you try a technique or recipe you use for years to come.

As I mentioned, you dont need much to turn out perfectly delicious muffins and biscuits. A muffin pan, a baking sheet, a couple of bowls, two knives, a spoon, some measuring cups, and an oven will get you there; everything else is optional. You likely have the basic ingredients in your kitchen already: flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, butter, an egg or two. You can stick with the basics or go as wild as you want from there.

I often use a combination of baking powder and baking soda in these recipes, but sometimes just one or the otherit depends on the rest of the ingredients in the recipe. Baking soda needs to react with something acidic for it to do its thing, so youll see it used in recipes with buttermilk, lemon juice, and other acidic ingredients. Baking powder has the acidic component built in and is used primarily in recipes lacking an acidic ingredient. Buy double-acting baking powder, such as Calumet or Clabber Girl, as it will give you the best results. Baking soda has a tendency to clump, so use a fork to break up any chunks before measuring it into the flour. Baking powder and baking soda will lose potency over time, so check the expiration date and get new packages if yours have expired.