There’s nothing better than a buttery, crumbly biscuit fresh out of the oven. These aren’t your typical cookies, though – they are beige in color (like sand!) and named after the Luneburger Heide, a heathland region in northern Germany where you can find beautiful purple heather flowers. This biscuit has a light, buttery flavor that’s perfectly balanced by its sweetness and tartness from the cranberries and sourdough bread used in the dough.
These simple biscuits are the perfect accompaniment to a glass of wine or hot cup of tea. They are also excellent topped with jam, honey, or even a smear of softened butter. The sourdough flavor of these biscuits gives them more depth than your traditional drop biscuits, which are usually made with all-purpose flour.
Heather sand biscuits are easy to make, and you probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry. However, it’s best to use a scale for measuring your flour, as this is the only way to ensure that you have exactly the right amount of flour in every batch. Using a kitchen scale can also help you achieve the “shaggy” biscuit texture that is essential to good biscuits.
To prepare the biscuits, preheat the oven to 450° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. If desired, you can cut the biscuits into rounds or squares with a cookie cutter or bench scraper. If you are able to cut the dough into circles, you can then crimp the edges with your fingers or a fork. This is optional, but the crimping helps to create air pockets in the dough that make it flaky when baked.
If you’d like to add a little extra sweetness, you can brush the tops of the biscuits with beaten egg before baking them. The egg wash will give the biscuits a golden, glossy finish and make them especially tender inside. For a twist on these biscuits, try adding some chopped dried fruits to the dough before shaping it into rounds.
Once the biscuits are ready, you can bake them immediately or freeze them for later use. To bake frozen biscuits, simply add a few minutes to the cooking time. They can also be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for a day or so before they start to lose their softness. If you prefer to store your biscuits longer, they will keep well in the freezer for up to a month. For even easier storage, you can wrap the cooled biscuits in plastic wrap and put them in a zip-top bag. This will prevent them from drying out and becoming stale. Heidesandkekse
