Baking these Savory Cracklin’ Biscuits has been a long term plan of mine. These tiny savory biscuits are made with a pork crackling filling and are often served as an ‘elenvenses’ snack in Europe. Elevenses is the British term for a midmorning snack and there is a similar term for this mid-day bite in Hungary. This is where I enjoyed these delighful bites while visiting family in Budapest years ago and I finally found the time and the ingredients to complete the plan. I’m glad I did as they are delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 cup pork crackling from 2-3 lb pork but or shoulder
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- kosher salt
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp dry yeast
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 7 tbsp unsalted butter cold
- 1 whole egg
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 4-6 tbsp milk
Instructions
Gather all iingredients before starting recipe
Pork Crackling
- Prepare 1 cup pork crackling from a 2-3 pork shoulder by cutting the fat, and rind if any from the roast, into 1" cubes. Set the fat in a medium sized saucepan and cook on low heat until most of the fat has rendered and the crackling has developed a golden brown color.
- Strain the pork crackling and reserve rendered fat for another use. Transfer the pork crackling to a food processor and add 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt to taste. Pulse until the cracklin resembles course meal and creates a rough spread.
Buiscuit Dough
- Prepare yeast mixture with 2 tbsp dry yeast, 1 tsp sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of warm water. Allow to proof for 10 minutes.
- Add 2 cups flourand 2 tsp kosher salt to a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Cube 7 tbsp unsalted butter and add to the flour mixture and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles crumbles, about 5 minutes.
- When the dough is crumbly, add the yeast mixture, 1 whole egg and 1/2 cup sour cream and mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Add flour a tablespoonful at a time if the dough seems a little loose.
- Form the dough into a ball and cover the dough and allow to rise for 2 hours or refrigerate overnight.
- After the dough has risen, sprinkle a board with flour and roll out the dough into a 15" x 15" square. (Note: The dough can be covered and refrigerated overnight after the first rising.)
- Spread the cracklin paste evenly on the dough.
- Fold the dough in from the left to cover about 5" of dough. Then fold the remaining 5" from the right side over the first fold.
- Fold again, into thirds, from the remaining length. This will yield a 5" square which has been folden in thirds twice.
- Allow to rest for 30 minutes, after which, roll the dough out again to a 15" square. Roll out the dough to thickness of a finger, score the top with a sharp knife and cut small rounds from the dough. Transfer rounds to a parchment lined cookie sheet, at least 1 inch apart, and allow to rest agan for 25 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 °F
- Re-form scraps into a sheet and score and cut more rounds.
- Mix one egg with a couple of teaspoons of water and mix to make an egg wash and brush the biscuits with a pastry brush.
- Transfer biscuits to the middle rack of a preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the biscuits have turned a golden brown color.
