Berry Ricotta Biscuits with Vanilla Bean Glaze

It's not a secret that I love blueberries. One weekend earlier this summer, I actually went blueberry picking TWICE. I walked away with close to six pounds and only about 2 cups have survived the last month. The majority was consumed by the handful and in smoothies, parfaits, muffins and this cake.

Another, probably less known, love of mine is biscuits. I love everything about them: The process of cutting the butter, gently folding the dough to make layers, cutting (circles, squares, small, large) and then biting into one fresh out of the oven. If they are made right, biscuits are slightly-salty buttery clouds. I eat them with preserves, smothered in sausage gravy, stuffed with egg, bacon, and cheese...

Recently I found myself with half a container of ricotta that needed to be used. I know I'm not the only one that finds themselves in this pickle! I considered some other options like cookies, cake, or scones before taking a stab at biscuits. And, you know what? I think I made the right call.

The biscuits themselves are super buttery and moist. I was worried the ricotta would weigh them down too much, but no such issue. They are just as fluffy as your normal biscuits...maybe better. Even though these were sweet biscuits, I used self-rising flour that already contains salt. The salty-sweet contrast was probably my favorite part!



The last step of adding a vanilla bean glaze is optional, but highly recommended. If you are already investing in eating a biscuit, you might as well go there.

These berry ricotta biscuits are the perfect weekend morning treat...made even more perfect with fresh berries! I'd be to come over and help you out with them ;)

Vanilla-Glazed Berry Ricotta Biscuits

Servings: 8

2 cups self-rising flour
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cold!
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup ricotta
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup berries, fresh (I've used all blueberries and a mixture of blueberries/raspberries)
Egg Wash: 1 egg whisked together with 1 tablespoon water or milk
Vanilla Glaze: 1 tablespoon milk or half-and-half, ¼ teaspoon vanilla, ~1 cup powdered sugar (enough to thicken glaze so that it’s drizzle-able)

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

• There are two ways to cut the butter into the dry ingredients: Using a box cheese grater or a food processor.
• If you are going to use a cheese grater, add flour to a large bowl. Steady the grater over the flour and grate butter into it. Halfway through, remove the grater and toss the butter with the flour to mix it up some. Once all of the butter has been grated, place bowl in freezer for 5-10 minutes to let it get cold again.
• If you are using a food processor, add flour to processor bowl. Cut up butter into ½-1 tablespoons pads and toss over flour. Pulse mixture about 4 times. Remove bowl from processor, shake flour down from sides and take note of how big the clumps of butter are. You want them about the size of peas. Return bowl to processor and pulse a few more times to achieve that size. Then place bowl in freezer for 5-10 minutes to let it get cold again.

• Whisk buttermilk and egg in a small bowl; whisk until combined. In a small bowl, make the egg wash, whisking together the egg and water/milk. Transfer both to the refrigerator.

• Grab the bowl out of the freezer; and if you used the cheese grater, gently break up the butter and combine with the flour, using your hands, until it resembles small peas. Add the buttermilk mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Mix until barely combined with either a wooden spoon or, if you are using a food processor, pulse 4-5 times. Sprinkle a large cutting board or your kitchen counter with flour and dump the loose dough onto it (It’s ok if it’s not completely combined when you dump it).

• Lightly press the dough into one solid square mass. Lightly flour the top of it and fold in half; flour-and-fold once more. Press blueberries onto dough, flour, and fold in half. Repeat the blueberry-flour-fold one more time. (Total folds: 4. It’ll help make layers!) Dough should now be in a square/rectangle and at a 3/4-inch thickness. Cut out the biscuits using a biscuit cutter, pizza cutter, or knife. Depending on if you cut them circle or square, you can recombine the scraps and get a few more biscuits. Transfer them to the baking sheet.

• Stick the baking sheet in the freezer for 5 minutes (or overnight!) to get the bits of butter cold again. After the biscuits are cold, brush the tops of with egg wash and bake in oven or 10-15 minutes, until tall and medium golden brown. While they bake, assemble the glaze by whisking the milk, vanilla, and sugar together with a fork. Only add 2 tablespoons sugar at a time until desired thickness is achieved. Allow biscuits to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then move to a cooling rack to drizzle and finish cooling!

*The key is to keep the ingredients COLD and to not knead the dough too much.*