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Quaker Bonnet Biscuits

Quaker bonnet biscuits were once popular dinner biscuits, but they’ve fallen from favor because fewer and fewer harried modern cooks have the time to make them. The biscuits’ odd name comes from their shape: one small circle set off-center atop a larger circle to resemble an old-fashioned bonnet. The beauty of these biscuits is that while they are prepared in the style of a biscuit--by cutting cold butter into the dry ingredients before adding a liquid--they are leavened with yeast. We wanted to update the outdated recipes we had found. Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

Use a food processor to cut the chilled butter quickly into the dry ingredients. Transfer to a large bowl and mix the wet ingredients in by hand to prevent overmixing. These are more like biscuits than bread and overworking will make them tough.
Add whole milk, egg, and sugar in addition to a lot of butter to keep the flavor rich and the texture tender.
For the “bonnet” shape, affix a smaller round on top of a larger round--off center, of course.
Proof the biscuits in a warm oven to hasten their rise. Once doubled--about 30 minutes--they are ready to bake.

STEP BY STEP

How to Make Quaker Bonnet Biscuits

1. Roll the dough into a 12-inch round.

2. Cut out eighteen 2 1/2-inch circles, 3/4 inch thick, and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets.

3. Lightly brush larger dough rounds with melted butter.

4. Place one smaller round slightly off center on top of each larger round.

Quaker Bonnet Biscuits

Makes 18

To make these biscuits without a food processor, freeze the sticks of butter until hard and then grate them into the dry ingredients using the large holes of a box grater. Toss gently with your hands to evenly distribute the butter, and proceed with the recipe.

1	cup whole milk
1	large egg
1	package rapid-rise yeast or instant yeast
4	cups all-purpose flour , plus extra for work surface
2	tablespoons sugar
1 1/2	teaspoons table salt
8	tablespoons unsalted butter (1-stick), cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled, plus 1 additional tablespoon, melted (for assembling biscuits)

1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 200 degrees. Once oven reaches 200 degrees, maintain temperature for 10 minutes, then turn off oven.

2. Stir milk, egg, and yeast together in large measuring cup until combined.

3. Process flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined. Add chilled butter and pulse until mixture looks like coarse cornmeal, about fifteen 1-second pulses. Transfer to large bowl.

4. Stir in milk mixture until dough comes together. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Briefly knead to bring dough together, about 1 minute, adding more flour if necessary. Following steps 1 through 4 in the photos, roll, cut, and assemble biscuits on parchment-lined baking sheets. Cover with kitchen towels and place in warm oven. Let rise until doubled in size, 25 to 35 minutes.

5. Remove baking sheets with biscuits from oven and heat oven to 375 degrees; return baking sheets to oven once it is fully preheated. Bake biscuits until golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating and switching baking sheets halfway through baking time. Serve hot or warm.