Onion Biscuits

Saint-Germain-des-prés Onion Biscuits

Makes about 32 biscuits

Biscuits are always best right out of the oven.

Unbaked biscuits can be frozen for up to 2 months and baked straight from the freezer - just add a couple of minutes to the baking time.

Ingredients

• 6½ tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, finely chopped (about ½ cup)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup cold whole milk

Directions

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Have a biscuit cutter or tall cookie cutter, one that's between 1 and 2 inches in diameter, at hand.
2. Put ½ tablespoon of the butter in a small skillet or saucepan and cut the remaining butter into 12 pieces.
3. Set the pan over low heat, melt the butter, and add the onion. Cook, stirring just until it softens, about 3 minutes. Pull the pan from the heat.
4. Put the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine. Drop the butter pieces into the bowl and, using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture until you've got a bowl full of flour-covered pieces, some small and flaky, some the size of peas. Scatter the cooked onions over the mixture, then pour over the cold milk and, using a fork, toss and turn everything together until you've got a soft dough. If there are some dry bits at the bottom of the bowl, reach in and knead the dough gently a couple of times.
5. Lightly dust a work surface with flour, turn the dough out, and dust the top of the dough very lightly with flour. Pat the dough down gently with your hands (or roll it out with a pin) until it is about ½ inch thick. It doesn't have to be an even square or round, just do the best you can, and do it quickly.
6. Dip the biscuit cutter into the flour bin, then cut out as many biscuits as you can -- cutting the biscuits as close to one another as possible -- and transfer them to the baking sheet, leaving a little space between them. Gather the scraps of dough together, pat them down, and cut out as many more biscuits as you can, put these on the lined baking sheet too. Alternatively (and perhaps more economically), you can pat or roll out the dough into a rectangle or square, then, using a long knife, cut square biscuits, about 1 to 1½ inches on a side. (You can make the biscuits up to this point add freeze them on the baking sheet, when they're solid, pack them airtight and freeze them for up to 2 months)
7. Bake the biscuits for 15 to 18 minutes, or until they are puffed and lightly browned. They're ready to eat now or to use to make cocktail sandwiches.

From Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan