Homemade biscuits

by Andrea Gámez

Homemade biscuits are a really typical bread in Mexico: We actually call them “ombligos” (belly buttons) or “bisquets”. The belly button thing comes from the traditional small circle in the middle. They are somewhat similar to the classic american or english biscuits.

This is one of our brother’s favorite breads and that’s waying a lot. It is really good. The texture is similar to that of a scone but fluffier and tasting more like butter. In fact, the recipe call for both yeast and baking powder which is why they rise quite a lot while baking.

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How to make biscuits

In Mexico there are a lot of “panaderías” (bread shops) where they sell sweet types of breads and they always have biscuits. There is sometimes even people selling this type of breads on the street, with a bicycle or something. Sometimes they have a megaphone playing music when they pass by that says -here comes the “panadero” (person that sells bread) for people to get out of their house or office to buy bread. Generally, these breads are homemade and have a much better flavor than the ones sold in regular “panaderías” or supermarkets, where they are so industrialized.

How to make mexican homemade biscuits

Biscuits are specially great cut by half, toasted and with some butter on top (yes, more butter) and jam. But you can even eat them with some savory dishes because they have a neutral flavor.

Our family loves bread. It is something we for real could not live without. Either savory or sweet, it is so present in our lives, that we even have a tradition of our “bread mondays”. We used to buy it and we would always buy some of these biscuits. But then we started making them homemade, which we enjoy, and now we have this and many other bread recipes.

Homemade biscuits recipe

We actually had a hard time finding, researching and developing this recipe because this bread is not as famous as the conchas bread for example. Nevertheless, since we all (specially our brother) love bixcuits, we wanted to post this recipe, and make it something that truly is special.

If you like this recipe you have to see our conchas, mexican bread, the perfect recipe to make at home.

Homemade biscuits

5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Resting time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 30

Ingredients
  

For the bread:

  • 4 2/3 C (21.20 oz) (600 gr) all purpouse flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp (0.37 oz) (10.5 gr) salt
  • 1/2 C (3.52 oz) (100 gr) granulated white sugar
  • 1 1/2 tbsp (0.75 oz) (21.5 gr) baking powder
  • 1 1/4 C (9.90 oz) (280 gr) unsalted butter , cold and in cubes
  • 3/4 C + 1 tbsp (3.40 fl oz) (200 ml) whole milk , warm
  • 3 1/2 tsp (0.40 oz ) (11 gr) dry active yeast
  • 2 eggs , medium size

For the egg wash:

  • 1 egg , beaten
  • 2 tbsp (1 fl oz) (30 ml) cream

Instructions
 

  • In a bowl put the warm milk and yeast. Mix using a fork and let it sit for 10 minutes for the yeast to activate.
  • In a big bowl put the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add in the butter and using your fingers start to integrate the butter to end up with a sand like mixture. It is important to do this step quickly for the butter not to heat up (you can also do this step in a food processor).
  • Once the yeast has activated, add in the eggs and beat with a fork. Add this mixture to the flour and start kneading for about 5 minutes using your hands until you get a smooth and soft dough (it is important not to over knead).
  • Put the dough in a bowl, cover it with plastic kitchen wrap or a kitchen towel so it does not get dry and let it rest for 20 minutes somewhere fresh.
  • Preheat the oven to 392º F (200º C). One this time has passed, place the dough on a clean surface with some flour and roll it out in a rectangular shape with a rolling pin until it is about 0.40 inches (1 cm) thick. Fold the dough in half widthwise and then roll it out again to form a 0.60 inches (1.5 cm) thick rectangle.
  • Cut the dough using a round cookie cutter of about (7 cm) in diameter or the size you want. Then, to make them have the traditional circle in the middle make a smaller circle with a pipping tip making sure you don't go all the way through the dough. You should end up with about 30 pieces.
  • Place the biscuits on aa big rectangular baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the egg wash on them and bake for 15 minutes or until they turn golden brown and have risen.
  • Take out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Serve with butter and jam or with the toppings you like.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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