How To Make Those Button Biscuits You Keep Seeing
No doubt you have seen these cute little biscuits around social media but maybe haven't built up the courage to make them yet. Well, I am here to put your mind at ease. These biscuits aren't really as difficult as they seem but they can be a little fiddly. It's all worth it though, I promise. These biscuits make such cute gifts and no doubt your neighbours or family will love the thoughtful work you have put into these.
For this recipe, I have gone in a savoury direction with a classic combination of apple and cheddar. Cheese and fruit seem to have a really great relationship and when sweet and savoury are balanced well it can really create the next level of flavour.
Choosing your apples
I usually make the applesauce for this recipe but you really don't have to. You can use shop bought but if you do make your own, it's important to choose the right apples. All apples have different flavours and levels of sweetness so for this recipe you want apples that compliment the cheddar. For my sauce I used gala apples because, I feel, they have quite a balanced flavour, not overly sweet like pink lady and not as sour as granny smith or cooking apples. Although I used gala, as long as you avoid the pink lady and granny smith you should be have some great biscuits.
Making the applesauce
You really don't need to make the apple sauce but it is a lot healthier. Most shop bought apple sauce is full of sugar and added extras that are necessary to give it a long shelf life. This recipe has a 1 week shelf life but it is pure apple with no unnecessary extras.
Peel and core 2-3 apples. Chop the apples and place in saucepan with 100ml of water. Cook the apples on a low heat for 30-35minutes, stirring often to make sure it doesn't burn. Cook until the apples are soft and easy to mash. Remove from heat and then use an electric blender to blend it into a smooth paste. Strain the sauce through a sieve into a heatproof container (this stage is a bit of a bicep workout). Allow to cool and then you can use it for this recipe.
Health Benefits
Apples are full of antioxidants. The specific types of antioxidants found in apples have been found to help with heart health and can be helpful with weight loss. Apples can also increase prebiotic growth which is great for gut health.
Apple and Cheddar Button Biscuits
Prep time
20-25
+30min refrigeration
Cook time
10-12
Makes
36
What you need
60g Smooth apple sauce
50g grated Mature cheddar
1/2tsp Salt
1/4tsp Paprika
100g Salted butter
210g Plain flour
Making the dough
Rub the butter, flour, paprika and salt together with the tips of your fingers until you get a breadcrumb texture. One tip for this stage is to shake the bowl from side to side Any lumps left in the mix will rise to the top. Keep mixing until there are more lumps. This technique helps make sure that there are no large lumps of butter left in the bowl. Add the applesauce and cheddar. Bring the dough together to form a smooth dough.
Rolling out the biscuits and making the buttons
Tip the dough onto a well floured surface and roll out to 1cm thickness. Using a 48mm diameter cutter, cut as many biscuits out as you can (around 36). Keep re-rolling the dough until it is all used up.
Place all the biscuits on the prepared baking trays and then use a slightly smaller cutter to make a shallow indent around the edge of each biscuit. Make two to four holes in the centre of each biscuit with a skewer or toothpick.
Why it needs to go in the fridge?
Place the biscuits in the fridge for around 30 minutes to make sure that they keep their shape. This is a really important step as it makes sure the butter doesn't just splurge outwards and then end up losing all the lovely patterns you have made.
Baking the biscuits
Bake the biscuits for 10-12 minutes until the start to turn golden around the edges. It is important to turn the tray of biscuits halfway through baking, especially if you have a fan oven. This makes sure all the biscuits are baked evenly.
