Biscuits are a very versatile food. You can make them big or small, sweet or savoury. They are always a great finger food and a fantastic canapé base. This dough is soft and fluffy and pretty simple to make. The addition of yoghurt makes it stay fresh even the next day, and the bacon makes them a great breakfast item with your favourite yoghurt or dipping sauce.
One important thing to keep in mind is to drain off as much fat as possible from the cooked bacon. You don't have to discard it, of course, you can save it for cooking, but make sure you leave the bacon on paper towels for at least 5 minutes before crumbling it. You can crumble (or dice) the cooked bacon as roughly or finely you like, it will not change the texture or flavour of the biscuits.
Ingredients
400 grams soft bread flour
200 ml yoghurt
3 teaspoons active dried yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
100 ml hot water
100 ml olive oil
200 grams bacon
50 grams white Cheddar, finely grated
Preparation
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium high heat, until cooked through, evenly browned, and crispy. Transfer it to a plate lined with paper towels, to absorb some of the fat. Crumble the bacon, or chop it finely, and let it cool down slightly. Finely grate the Cheddar and set it aside. Take a large bowl and sift in the flour, add the yeast and mix well. In a medium bowl, whisk together the yoghurt with the oil and the hot water. This will make the mixture warm enough to get the yeast activated. Stir it roughly with a wooden spoon, add the chopped bacon and Cheddar, then knead with your hands, until you get a soft dough that doesn't stick.
Transfer the dough to a well floured surface and knead it by hand for 5 more minutes, to make it elastic. Add a tablespoon or two of flour more, if needed, but do not add more than that, because you will end up with tough biscuits. Put it in a warm spot for about an hour to rise, then transfer it to a floured surface and roll it out to about 1 cm thickness, and cut out 5 cm wide biscuits. Arrange them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, and let them rest for about 30 minutes. Bake them in a preheated oven, at 200˚C (400˚F) for 12-15 minutes. Serve warm. Yields 45 biscuits.
