Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits

Oh man, I wish you could smell these. I honestly didn’t expect a whole lot from this little recipe…but the aroma that hit me when I opened the oven door instantly set my tummy a-rumblin.

Why, you may ask, did I opt for a savory recipe as my first foray into Tackling Martha Territory? Well, it’s Lent, and a lot of the people in my office (aka the people who eat what I bake so I don’t get fat) have given up sweets for the month. I thought they deserved a treat, and anyhow, I was intrigued by this recipe when I first flipped through the book. It didn’t seem to me that this particular combination of ingredients would yield an especially tasty biscuit. I was very wrong.

The recipe is simple, but time-consuming. The dough must be mixed, kneaded, rolled out four separate times, and chilled twice in the interim. But there is something so soothing about rolling out pastry dough. Pizza dough, on the other hand, is a pain in the ass. It’s so elastic and ornery that attempting to roll it out can be quite a headache. No wonder the experts resort to throwing the stuff at the ceiling – I’ll bet the first person who did that did it out of sheer frustration. But I digress. Pastry dough – smooth, fatty, and delicious – is such a delight to work with, because it’s so easy to shape, roll, and mold into the size and thickness you’re going for. Rolling this stuff out reminded me of working with rugelach dough. I assume working with pie crust is similarly enjoyable, though that is an adventure I have yet to undertake…

Anyhoo, a couple of issues I had w/ this recipe:

1. I’m pretty sure I over-kneaded it, as the biscuits are slightly tough. But Martha says to knead it only 4 times after you dump it out of the bowl. I’m not sure what counts as one “knead,” but I’m pretty sure I went way over 4 before I got it smooth and unsticky enough to work with. Hmm.

2. I was out of parchment paper, so I used buttered foil. The bottoms browned a LOT faster than the tops, so I had to watch em like hawks for the last few minutes to make sure I gave them enough time to brown a little on top but got them out before the bottoms started to burn.

I would totally make these again. The flavor is slightly cheesy, slightly herby – but not to the point where you would be able to pinpoint the use of cream cheese or chives. The ingredients all complement each other nicely to create a wonderful flavor w/out being overpowering, even though cream cheese and chives are too pretty distinct flavors. I just need to get the texture right, but I’m pretty sure that has more to do w/ my technique than Martha’s recipe.

Two Yums Up!