Aish Cooks

Butter Biscuits ~ Egg-less soft white butter cookies

Earth – Round.

Sun – Hot.

Butter biscuit – Buttery white, bunny soft.

Growing up, every one must have had their fill munching on butter biscuits at one time or the other. I had many. And they were always these super soft cubes of melt-in-your-mouth white biscuits straight from the factory of one Mr. Butter Biscuit Uncle. We actually used to call him just that and it wasn’t until many years later that I even knew what his real name was! For the longest time, that was the only butter biscuit I ever knew existed. So when I later find out that most people know their butter biscuits to be brown or golden-colored round cookies that you bite into, I was pretty sure they were missing out on the real thing. But then I never really found those ol’ white butter biscuits from my childhood anywhere else… never that kind. With time, the white butter biscuit was forgotten and I moved on.

Until a dear friend asked me a couple of weeks ago if I’d ever come across a butter biscuit recipe. Hmm. If I were to ever make butter biscuits they had to be the way I remember them. Simply white. When I came across this recipe, it looked just right. Turns out, corn starch is the secret ingredient to the soft and melting texture of the biscuit. This recipe was just perfect and they were almost like the ones from my childhood. I think I can get used to that!

If you do not have cookie cutters, you could very well roll out small balls with the dough and flatten them out with your palms. On the other hand, fondant cutters make cute bite-sized biscuits… perfect for tiny hands. My little guy who steers clear of cookies actually enjoyed gobbling up stars, half-moons, flowers and hearts this time.

Oh, and there’s one less thing to worry about – these will never hang around long enough to go stale!

Butter Biscuits

Based on the recipe from the Pass the Salt blog

Prep: 20-30 minutes | Baking: 30 minutes | Makes: 60 bite-sized biscuits (<2″ cutters)  or about 24 regular biscuits (5″ cutter)

Ingredients:

1. 1.5 cup all-purpose flour
2. 6 tbsp corn starch
3. 1/4 tsp salt
4. 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
5. 1/3 cup super fine sugar, plus some more for sprinkling

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Combine butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and whisk/stir until it forms a smooth creamy mixture.
3. Sift the flour, corn starch and salt into the same bowl.
4. Knead gently and combine using your hands to form a smooth ball of dough.
5. Note: It will be dry and crumbly at first, but as you keep working the dough it will come together into a tight ball. Do not overwork the dough as that will melt the butter, just try and combine by pressing and bringing together until you can form into hold-able dough.
6. Roll out dough to about 1″ thickness using a rolling pin by making gentle flattening strokes, or use your palms to flatten dough into 1″ thick sheet.
7. Note: You could also divide into smaller portions so it is easier to handle, to do this.
8. Cut out into cookies using a cookie/fondant cutter. Repeat with remaining chunks of dough until all the dough has been shaped into cookies.
9. Note: If you are making this on a hot day or someplace where the weather is warmer, the dough would not hold together well enough to cut out the cookies. In that case, refrigerate the dough (covered with plastic wrap or in a closed container) to allow butter to chill and then try to roll it out again.
10. Gently transfer cut-out dough pieces to a non-stick or parchment-lined baking tray.
11. Bake at 300 F for 25-30 minutes, until the base starts turning a slight golden color.
12. Remove and let it cool on the baking tray.
13. Optional: Sprinkle biscuits with some super-fine sugar and dust off excess.

Store in a dry, air-tight container for 1-2 weeks or as long as you can resist them.

Notes:

1. Freeze cookies for long-term storage, and thaw on on the counter to room temperature.
2. Variations: Add zest of orange/lemon for extra flavor.