Orange Biscuits

i just returned from one of my happiest places on earth… my parents’ home, in the middle of texas, in a town with one flashing yellow light and more cows than people.

my little guy and i happily braved the texas heat to spend much-needed time with my folks and my sister’s family. he was thrilled to have three cousins all to himself. the four of them did all the things cousins should do on the ranch… swim, squirt water guns, fish, play ball, swing on the horse-shaped tire swing. and we even made it to a fantastic two-block parade and a central texas german biergarten.

and of course we ate. 

my momma always makes the best food. there are always delicious meals and treats in her kitchen. and she is thoughtful enough that she even provided for me all the gluten-free flours i could need.

for breakfast the last morning we were all together, while the kids played sweetly in the living room and the grown-ups sipped coffee, mom made a fabulous frittata filled with leeks, mushrooms, carrots, asparagus and cheese, and i made these citrus treats.

man, i wish texas was closer.

2          teaspoons ground flax
4          teaspoons very hot water

390      grams (about 3 cups) kumquat all-purpose flour
2          tablespoons sugar
1           tablespoon baking powder
1           teaspoon baking soda
1/2        teaspoon salt
1/3        cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1           tablespoon orange zest
3/4       cup buttermilk
1/4        cup fresh orange juice

1 1/2      cups powdered sugar
3 1/2     tablespoons fresh orange juice
1           teaspoon orange zest

1. Preheat oven to 425`. Combine ground flax and hot water till thick; set aside.

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Cut in 1/3 cup butter with a pastry cutter or with fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in 1 tablespoon orange zest. Combine buttermilk and orange juice. Add buttermilk mixture and flax slurry to dry ingredients and stir well to combine.

3. Turn dough out onto a floured surface; knead until well combined. Roll into a 1-inch thickness; cut with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. Place close together on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425` for 14 minutes or until golden.

4. Meanwhile, combine powdered sugar, orange juice and orange zest in a medium bowl.

5. Allow biscuits to cool; spread icing evenly over top of biscuits.
Yield: 11 biscuits.

if you’re at all familiar with biscuit-making, the exciting thing about the gluten-free version is no matter how much you handle the dough you can’t make them tough. you know why? because there’s no gluten! that’s the guilty party in the overworked wheat flour biscuit. so those scrap-biscuits that didn’t make it into the cutter on the first roll will be just as tender and light the second roll around. also, my sister taught me that placing the biscuits together on the pan helps them rise better. we’re not sure why that is, but we went with it.