Maple Date Biscuits

There are more times than not when I seem to be very inspired super early in the morning. After one particularly exhilarating morning run, I came home and decided to make biscuits. This recipe was for a fig-maple sugar biscuit from Cooking Light, however, I used dates and maple syrup. I was slightly under on the amount of butter needed, so I made do with what I had and hoped for the best. The best part about recipes is that you can use them as a starting point and adjust them as you see fit. I can't say that I have ever made biscuits, but they were much simpler than I thought they would be. I do need to warn you though that you will need a pastry blender for this recipe. If you make a lot of pastries and dough, the pastry blender will be a staple piece of equipment so it may be worth the investment. Start off by mixing together the flour, salt, baking powder and maple syrup/maple sugar. I didn't have maple sugar, so I substituted, but make sure that you reduce one of the liquids by a quarter when using the maple syrup. Then add in the cold cubed butter with a pastry blender until a crumbly mixture is formed. Mine turned out to be more of a soft dough, which I am attributing to the maple syrup. Add in the dates (or figs) and the milk and stir until well mixed. Then scoop out the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 16 minutes or until golden brown. The aroma of maple slowed filled the air and smelled amazing and they had just a touch of the golden color when I pulled them out. They were a bit darker on the bottom than I would have liked, but fortunately they were definitely not burned. Once they cooled, I gave one a try and was surprised at how delicious they were. The maple syrup was apparent in the background without being too sweet or overwhelming the somewhat more delicate flavor of the dates. These were not the super crumbly biscuits, but more like a scone which I didn't mind even though I am not entirely sure that was what was supposed to happen. The best part is that these have very little sugar in them and could probably be made to be gluten free. I think next time I might add some pecans or just make some plain ones. I continue to be surprised by the wonderful recipes that I am getting from the Cooking Light cookbook, so I can't wait to try the next one.