Alice Medrich's Almond Drop Biscuits

All the foodies know of Berkeley's famous Alice Waters, but there's another, lesser-known Berkeley Alice who deserves just as much recognition. Alice Medrich has won more cookbook-of-the-year awards and best in the dessert and baking category awards than any other author. As a child I remember my mom savoring truffles from Medrich's North Berkeley dessert shop, Cocolat. Some people even say she's the woman who made truffles popular in the United States. I was reintroduced to Medrich by my friend Arianna last year when she brought an amazing fruit cobbler to a dinner party and told me it was from Medrich's Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts cookbook. I promptly bought a copy for myself. Shortly after I purchased her most recent book, Flavor Flours, which is essentially a gluten-free cookbook that explores many of the alternative flours that are becoming popular.

I woke up this morning with the urge to bake something healthy and easy. I turned to Flavor Flours and happened to have all of the ingredients for the Almond Drop Biscuit recipe on hand, so I gave them a whirl. The base of these biscuits is a mix of almond and rice flour. I've done a lot of baking with almond flour, but had yet to use my bag of rice flour for anything beyond dusting bread dough. These biscuits have a surprisingly chewy texture and a light almond and rice flavor. They taste a little boring on their own, but once I added some strawberry jam they became a lovely little snack. Not quite hearty enough for breakfast, I'll be having one or two of these with my afternoon tea throughout the week. 

Almond Drop Biscuits

Adapted from the recipe by Alice Medrich, from the book Flavor Flours 

Makes 12 small biscuits 

1 1/3 cup (200 grams) white rice flour

2/3 cup (60 grams) almond flour/meal 

2 teaspoons sugar 

1/4 teaspoon xantham gum 

1 tablespoon baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1 cup heavy cream (I only had 2% milk but I bet cream would have helped the flavor)

1/2 cup plain yogurt (any percent fat) or slightly watered down Greek Yogurt 

Preheat the oven to 400°F. 

Combine all of the ingredients in large bowl. Use a handheld or standing mixer with the paddle attachment to beat the mixture on low for at least two minutes. You want the batter to be pretty thick. 

Scoop 12 mounds of batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The biscuits will rise a bit so leave about 2 inches between each mound. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the biscuits are browned on the top and bottom. Serve warm.