Baking Bootcamp: Apple Pie Biscuits

Baking is all about sharing. Sharing recipes, sharing techniques, and most definitely sharing biscuits!

It’s time for our second challenge in the Baking Bootcamp series with King Arthur Flour!  You blew me away by baking the Triple Berry Braided Bread with me for our first challenge.  Hundreds of you participated and made the most lovely loaves of bread studded with summer berries.  I’m so happy you took the time to bake with me! It really means so much.  Let’s do it again, shall we!?

For this month’s Baking Bootcamp Challenge, we’re exploring King Arthur Flour’s Self-Rising Flour.  It’s a wonderfully light white flour combined with non-aluminum baking powder and salt.  It’s absolutely perfect for biscuits, pancakes, and muffins.  It’s a staple in my kitchen when it comes to perfectly fluffy, no-fuss biscuits.  Hop on this bandwagon and let’s get baking!  Below I’ll offer some alternatives for a DIY self-rising flour and a gluten-free option.  I want all of us in biscuit mode!

Here is a reminder of how Baking Bootcamp works:

Four Flours + Four Recipes Challenges + One Instagram #bakingbootcamp

+ Four Awesome Sets of Prizes!

The idea is simple!

• Make these Apple Pie Biscuits (they’re sooo delicious!) and take a picture of your creation!

• Follow @joythebaker and @kingarthurflour on Instagram

• Photograph your beautiful biscuits and post them to Instagram with the hashtag #bakingbootcamp

• When you submit a photo, you’ll be entered to win a one year supply of King Arthur Flour and a Baking Essentials box valued at $250!! Official rules and details can be found here.

I’ll be answering questions and sharing your photographs here on Joy the Baker. By entering the challenge you’ll also have amazing Apple Pie Biscuits in your kitchen, so… you really can’t lose.

Let’s get started!

 1 • King Arthur Unbleached Self-Rising Flour is perfectly soft and rolls out beautifully for these tender biscuits.

2 • I use this King Arthur Flour Bench Knife just about everyday in my kitchen. It’s perfect for scraping little dough bits from the countertop… something a sponge just pitifully attacks. You might also use the bench knife to slice though the center of the rolled dough. It’s sharp too! I love this tool!

3 • Kitchen fashion is important to me. Hedley & Bennett understands my needs for a functional, durable, totally chic apron. Not too frilly. I always want to be more badass than 50’s housewife-y in the kitchen.

4 • My Cast Iron Skillets are a staple in my everyday kitchen. Some are more successfully seasoned than others, but I try to keep some cast iron specifically for savory and other just for sweets.

5 • Having Colorful Mixing Bowls is the kitchen equivalent of having a great black dress in your closet. Necessary treat.

6 • Vegetable Peelers with good finger grips to peel apples in a flash!

7 • I inherited a Marble Rolling Pin from a family friend and now I don’t know how I’ve gone without one for so long! This piece has great weight and can be chilled in the refrigerator prior to rolling to keep our doughs more amiable.

8 • Don’t skimp on good Silicone Spatulas. The ones that melt along with the butter are just infuriating.

9 • Is it normal to have a completely mismatched set of Measuring Cups, or should I just treat myself to a matching set like this? Don’t answer that…

10 • Same goes for the Measuring Spoons… it’s nice to have a full matching set.

11 • I go through Paring Knives like I go through socks.  How is it possible to have them one day and then lose them the next? I don’t know.  Clearly I have an issue.

Let’s get baking!  #bakingbootcamp

photos in this post by Jon Melendez. 

 This super easy biscuit recipe features King Arthur Flour’s Unbleached Self-Rising Flour.  I encourage you to go buy a bag and experience just how convenient it is!  Self-rising flour has a lower protein content (8.5%) than all-purpose flour (11.7%) because it’s made using a soft wheat flour rather than the hard wheat flour that makes up all-purpose flour.  The lower protein content makes the flour extra light, creating wonderfully tender biscuits.

Self-rising flour also contains non-aluminum baking powder and a dash of salt so we don’t have to deal with measuring spoons and extra additions.

How to make your own Self-Rising Flour: 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder + 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Of course, if using all-purpose flour, the protein content will be a bit higher. Whisk together until thoroughly combined.

How to make your own Gluten-Free Self-Rising Flour:  1 cup King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour + 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder + 1/4 teaspoon salt + 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum.

For more on flour, check out Baking 101:  The Difference Between Baking Flours.  

Cold butter is cut into small cubes and added to the flour.  The colder the butter the better!

Measure out the cold buttermilk before your hands get dirty.

Using your fingers, break the butter down into the flour.

Quickly press the butter and flour in between your fingers creating little bits of butter throughout the flour.

If you work quickly, breaking down the butter into the flour will take about 4 minutes.  The result will be butter bits that are the size of oat flakes and small peas.

Add granulated sugar.

And stir the mixture together.

If that seems easy, it was!  Baking powder and salt are already in the flour!

Add the cold buttermilk.

If you’re out of buttermilk, you can make your own buttermilk substitute using one of these feisty tips.

Begin to stir the dry ingredients into the buttermilk.

The biscuit dough will feel rather fluffy and wet.

You’re on the right track!  Once all of the dry ingredients are worked into the buttermilk (you may need to add a splash of extra buttermilk), place it in the refrigerator for just a few moments while you make the apple filling.

If you’re using your own homemade self-rising flour or gluten-free self-rising flour, you’ll want to add the full 3/4 cup of buttermilk.

Using either a paring knife or vegetable peeler, peel an apple.  I like Fuji apples for this recipe because they’re both crisp and sweet.

This is how my grandmother slices apples (and everything else), and I wonder how old I’ll be when I finally feel comfortable with this move.  Don’t be like me, or my grandmother.  Slice safely.

Add the apple slices to a skillet of melted butter.  Add cinnamon.

Add sugar, too!

Cook the apples down for just a bit to melt the sugar and meld the spices.  The apples won’t be cooked all the way through, but they’ll finish softening in the oven.

Remove the skillet from the heat and allow to cool while you roll out the dough.

Back to the biscuit dough!

Generously dust a work surface with all-purpose flour.

The dough should be moist but not overly wet.

Onto the floured surface we go!

Knead the dough three or four turns.  We want to create a cohesive dough, but not overwork the dough at all.

Use your hands to shape the dough into rough rectangle shape.

Pat it down to a 1-inch thickness.

Sprinkle a rolling pin with more all-purpose flour.

Begin to roll the dough using a firm and even pressure.  Try to keep the rectangle shape as much as possible.

Roll the dough to a 1/2-inch thickness, about 7 x 10-inches.  Move the dough around the surface a bit to ensure that it’s not sticking; this will become important later when we’re folding the dough.

Time for the apples!

Spread the apples in a mostly even layer across half of the biscuit dough.

Gently fold the dough over the apples.

Use your hands to gently press the seams together.

Use the palms of your hand to nudge and suggest the filled biscuit dough  back into an 8″ x 6″ rectangle rectangle if the edges have rounded a bit.

Be the boss.

A friendly boss, but definitely the boss.

Use a large and sharp knife to cut 12 small biscuits.  Flour the knife a bit if it gets too sticky.

Place the biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Beat an egg.  Lightly brush the tops of each biscuit, for browning.

Generously sprinkle with granulated sugar and cinnamon.

Take a coffee break, but be careful that your rolling pin doesn’t roll right off the table.  The biscuits will bake up in about 12 minutes!

Now it’s your turn!  Take on the challenge! Share your beautiful biscuits with us on Instagram #bakingbootcamp. You have until October 11th  to submit your photos to be entered to win a one-year supply of King Arthur Flour and a Baking Essentials Box valued at $250.  Official rules and details here. Leave any questions about the recipe in the comments below and check back here for all of your baking photos!

This post is brought to you by Joy the Baker in partnership with King Arthur Flour.