Cornmeal

Super Crunchy Orange and Cornmeal Biscuits

December  4, 2009
4.8
4 Ratings
  • Serves quite a lot
Author Notes

Note: I have changed the weight from cups to ounces because the recipe was tried by one participant and it didn't work. I think changing metric to cups is always a problem so now everything is in ounces to be more precise. The children love them, my husband loves them and I can't get my hands out of the jar. These biscuits are light and crunchy - actually they are so light that their calories might even have flown away before you eat them. I normally cut them in irregular shapes like torn pieces of paper but having had my granddaughter over for the weekend, we made teddy bears. This recipe was given to me by my dear friend Arminda. —Maria Teresa Jorge

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Ingredients
  • 6.25 ounces butter room temperature
  • 9.1 ounces cornmeal (polenta flour) very thin
  • 6.25 ounces fine sugar
  • 3.6 ounces allpurpose flour - sifted
  • 2 oranges - zest
  • 2 eggs room temperature
  • 1 pinch salt
  • Flour for dusting the table top
Directions
  1. In a stand mixer beat the butter with the sugar for 7 minutes until starting to cream.
  2. Add the orange zest and mix. Add the eggs one at a time. Don't worry if the mixture curdles, the flour will put everything back together again.
  3. Add the sifted white flour and the cornmeal that should be very thin, and mix until it comes together. Wrap in plastic film and chill for 1 hour.
  4. Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF with rack in the middle position.
  5. Divide the dough in 4, leaving the remainder dough in fridge and roll out very thin, dusting the table top as needed. Cut the shapes you like or just irregular diamonds.
  6. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and put the biscuits on them.
  7. Bake the biscuits for 5 to 7 minutes or until light brown (as they are very thin they bake very quickly.
  8. Let cool on a cooling rack or on the tray. Store in an airtight jar.

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5 Reviews

Robin December 21, 2009
Thanks so much, Maria Teresa. I will try it again using these measurements. I ended up rolling the dough between parchment and sticking it in the freezer to make it easier to cut. The end product was still incredibly delicious, even if it wasn't perfect!
Robin December 13, 2009
I am trying to make this recipe and the dough, even after being in the fridge for a couple of hours, is very, very sticky and impossible to roll. Have I missed something? I doublechecked my dry ingredients and remember adding all of them. Thanks!
Maria T. December 18, 2009
Hi Robin, thank you for your comment. I work in grams and I have a chart to convert to cups. But after your comment I made the biscuits today with the cup measurements and it really was far too sticky. All the ingredients are now in ounces which should be more precise. Also, the corn flour should be very fine, not the coarse polenta flour. The other thing I forgot to mention is that I work in small quantities and leave the dough in the fridge. If it's hot or I have the heating on I even freeze it for 20 minutes to work it. I dust the tabletop with flour to help rolling the dough because I only like the bisuits very thin. I hope you can try them again and they come out well this time. Thank you so much for having pointed out the problem.
Marla December 5, 2009
These look so yummy. Love the addition of orange.
Maria T. December 9, 2009
It makes a huge difference. I have tried it with lemon and it's not as nice, so I stick with the orange. They are also fantastic for gifts.