Strawberry-Lemon ‘Biscrolls’

It’s just about summer time, and for me, that means I’m trying to bake with as much fruit as I possibly can. The stone fruit isn’t quite ready yet where I am, but the berries and the citrus fruits are–which, is what we’re doing here for today’s recipe.

Aren’t these just beautiful? The lovely swirl probably makes you think they’re breakfast rolls, right?

Well you’d be half-right, and half-wrong.

They’re a roll; and, a biscuit.

I call them, ‘biscrolls’. In a nutshell, they’re the perfect marriage between a breakfast roll, and a biscuit. I’ve been wanting to test this out for a while now, but I wasn’t sure how/if it would even work. Biscuit dough isn’t difficult to put together, but the handling is something to be mindful of. You can’t overwork it, or the biscuits will be tough. Yet the majority of breakfast rolls are made from yeast doughs that have to be kneaded quite a bit so that the gluten will develop properly.

The issue I was uncertain about going into this was whether the biscuit dough could hold up to being ‘rolled’ into a spiral without being overworked. I found a way to mitigate this issue with a little thing called patience.

I started out with my go-to biscuit recipe, adding lemon zest and lemon/vanilla extract to that dough. I kept the method exactly the same in putting it together, especially the overnight rest in the fridge. This will allow the gluten in the dough to relax, and will also thoroughly chill the dough enough to where it’s sturdy enough to be rolled the following day.

On Day 2, I gently rolled out the chilled and rested biscuit dough, spread it with chopped strawberries, butter, sugar, then rolled it up cylinder style (much like you would with regular breakfast rolls). After this, I let the dough rest again in the freezer to allow it to firm up long enough to where the spiral shape would hold up after slicing.

And, voila. I was really pleased with how these turned out, especially the texture. They’re lightly and fluffy on the inside, almost like a yeast roll, but not quite because of the biscuit technique in making the dough. The strawberries and lemons really gave them a fresh and light flavor that was exactly what I was going for. I kept these first biscrolls plain, but I do think if you have sweet tooth, they’d taste even better drizzled with a thin lemon glaze on top, like true breakfast rolls.

Best of all, the flavor possibilities are endless and adaptable for just about any fruit or time of year.

Strawberry-Lemon Biscrolls

Recipe Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

For Biscuits

6 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup white sugar
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
2 cups buttermilk, plus more if necessary
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 large lemon

For Filling

2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
3 tablespoons of white sugar
1 large lemon, zested

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar with a fork.

Using the large holes on a box grater, grate the butter into the dry ingredients and stir a few times to combine. Zest 1 full lemon into the dry ingredients and stir again. Make a well in the center of the bowl.

In a medium bowl, combine the buttermilk, and the extracts. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the well and use a large rubber spatula to stir the mixture together. If it seems a little dry you may add additional buttermilk until it forms a shaggy dough.

Sprinkle a pastry mat, wooden cutting board or wax paper with flour. Turn the dough out onto the surface and pat a few times with your hands until it loosely holds together. (Don’t knead it too much or the warmth in your palms will melt the butter and cause the biscuits to be tough.)

Pat and roll the dough into a rectangle. Take the two opposite ends and fold them together like a business letter into thirds. Flip it upside down and pat & roll it into another rectangle, sprinkling the surface with flour if it gets too sticky. Repeat the folding process two to three more times before patting it into one final rectangle.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

Spread diced strawberries on a plate lined with parchment paper. Place in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes, until they are firm to the touch.

Preheat oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place a shallow pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven.

Sprinkle a pastry mat, wooden cutting board or wax paper with flour. Turn the dough out onto the surface, and gently roll out to a 15 x 9 rectangle. Brush the melted butter over the dough. Sprinkle the white sugar, the lemon zest and the diced strawberries on top of the dough, leaving about a 1 inch border around the rectangle clear.

Roll the dough up the same way you would cinnamon rolls, from the long side, as tightly as you can.

Keep the dough in a cylinder shape, and gently transport to parchment lined baking sheet. Place the sheet pan in the freezer for twenty minutes.

Using a sharp knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough into 10 slices. Place the ‘biscrolls’ back on sheet pan, arranging them close together so that they are barely touching.

Bake for 20-25 minutes on the middle rack of the oven, until golden brown.