Alsacienne whole wheat biscuits

biscuits straight out of the oven

This is what my family calls these biscuits, which made their way to our table as I riffed off of different biscuit versions and combined flavours to ultimately arrive at something deliciously similar to our favourite pizza (l’Alsacienne) from Boîte à pain. Apologies to the people of Alsace for liberties taken.

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 c whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 c cornmeal
  • 1 t salt
  • 1 t dried dill (or 1 T fresh dill, minced)
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1 T baking powder
  • about 2-3 T minced or grated white onion (you can substitute a few chopped scallions, leeks, or other allium here, but white onion has the best flavour of all we’ve tried)
  • 50g cold butter (unsalted is best, but you can use salted and just dial back the salt)
  • about 100-150g total grated cheese (I recommend a mix of sharp cheddar, gruyère, and a bit of parmesan)
  • about 350-400g plain greek yogurt (about 1.5 c)

Directions

  • Whisk together dry ingredients.
  • Fold in onion (and fresh dill, if using.)
  • Cut in butter.
  • Mix in grated cheese, then yogurt until just combined. If too dry, add a bit more yogurt.
  • Use a spoon or cookie scoop and (clean) hands to form rough biscuits.
  • Bake on a large, parchment-lined baking sheet at 450F for about 9-10 minutes until lightly browned on top. Serve hot.

Yield

~16-21 fist-sized biscuits

Notes

Made with 150g cheese and 375g yogurt, this usually works out to about 17 biscuits, with each one having 120 calories, 11g CHO, 1.6g fibre, 6.4g protein, 5.8g fat. Exact nutrition will depend on your own choices of cheese and how much of each ingredient you actually put in.

These can be frozen, unbaked, and then baked from frozen. Add a few minutes to the baking time.

This recipe was adapted from a recipe in a book by Mark Bittman (I believe it was How To Cook Everything; pretty sure this is the same recipe) with inspiration from a cheese bun recipe by Smitten Kitchen (“Cheddar Swirl Breakfast Buns” in the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook) and good experiences with the Alsacienne pizza from Boîte à pain.