Danielle Sepsy's Raisin Tea Biscuits
A recipe from The Hungry Gnome founder's debut cookbook
If you’re not familiar with tea biscuits, they live somewhere between a scone and a buttermilk biscuit. For some reason, they are a bit of a Long Island staple, as they are prominently found on the shelves of local bakeries and in plastic clamshell boxes on grocery store shelves. I rarely see them in other states and there are very few recipes on the internet, which brought me to this conclusion: I believe that someone attempted to make an English-style scone and didn’t think the people of Long Island would know what a scone was, so they called it a “tea biscuit.” I am no food historian but this is my assumption, and I’m stickin’ to it! For as long as I could remember, my grandmother and mother would pick up fresh, iced, raisin tea biscuits from the bakery that had been cut in
half and filled with a generous amount of softened butter spread. They aren’t overly sweet and the texture is moist and soft on the inside and slightly crisp and crumbly on the outside. The raisins plump up slightly in the oven and add the perfect contrasting chew. With a cup of hot coffee or tea, it’s a real breakfast treat. Feel free to swap out the raisins for currants, dried cranberries, or even chocolate or cinnamon chips!
—Danielle Sepsy
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Ingredients
Makes 7 large biscuits
For the dough
1 heaping cup raisins
1¼ cups bread flour
1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fine table salt
3½ teaspoons baking powder
10 tablespoons (4 ounces) vegetable shortening, such as Crisco, cut into small pieces
¾ cup plus 1 to 2 tablespoons very cold whole buttermilk, plus more for brushing
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons distilled white vinegar
For the glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of fine table salt
⅛ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Listen to Danielle talking about this recipe on our baking pod!
Method
Preheat the oven to 425°F (or 400°F on the convection setting).
Make the dough: Pour hot, but not boiling, water (at least 150°F) over the raisins and let them soak while you start the dough.
In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (or in a large bowl with a wooden spoon), combine the bread flour, the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, salt, and baking powder.
With the mixer on low speed, add the shortening and mix until it blends into the flour mixture and resembles fine crumbs, about 2 minutes. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure all the dry mix gets mixed with the shortening.
Drain the raisins in a fine-mesh sieve. Add them to the flour mixture and stir just until they are evenly distributed throughout the mix.
In a separate bowl or measuring cup, whisk together ¾ cup of the buttermilk, the whole egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and vinegar just until blended. If the dough feels very wet and sticks easily onto your hands, add the remaining ¼ cup of bread flour.
On medium-low speed, add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix until the dough just comes together, about 2 minutes. If the dough appears to be too dry add another tablespoon or two of buttermilk just to bring it together. You want the dough moist but not so sticky that it comes off on your hands.
Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out until it is 1 inch thick. Flour a 3-inch round cutter and cut straight down into the dough, don’t wiggle or twist the cutter or else it may not rise evenly. Gather the scraps, reroll, and cut out more biscuits. You should get 7 biscuits. Place the biscuits ½ inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Lightly brush the tops of the biscuits with buttermilk and transfer to the oven.
Bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the pan front to back, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F (or 350°F on the convection setting), and continue to bake for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges and bottoms are golden and the centers are baked through.
Let the tea biscuits cool for 10 to 15 minutes on the pan while you make the glaze.
Make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and salt. Add a tablespoon of water at a time until you get a paste-like consistency. Add the vanilla bean paste. Add a few drops of water at a time if needed until the glaze becomes a spreadable texture. You still want it fairly opaque so it sets beautifully on top of the biscuits.
Take a spoon and spread about 1 tablespoon of the glaze on top of each biscuit. Let the glaze set for 10 to 15 minutes at room temperature (if you can wait!) before serving.
Storage: Store in a sealed container or wrapped in parchment paper and then aluminum foil at room temperature for 3 days. Reheat in the oven at 325°F for a few minutes or even on a plate in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds.
From The Scone Queen Bakes by Danielle Sepsy. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
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