For Truly Tender Biscuits, You Need a Hard-Boiled Egg (2024)

“Biscuits should be crumbly, buttery and sweet,” reads a headnote for acinnamon sugar-spiced shortbread recipe in theRitz London Cookbook. The recipe includes a peculiar instruction with no explanation: Boil an egg for 10 minutes, remove the yolk, and grate it into the dough.

Molecular biologist and cookbook author Nik Sharma first happened upon this instruction when developing his recipe forSpiced Golden Shortbread Cookies. He decided to do his own research.

As it turns out, adding hard-boiled egg yolks to your biscuit dough is a way to ward off an overworked, tough dough that can be the downfall of a butter-based pastry. When the trick is employed, the pastry shatters and then dissolves in your mouth quickly, tasting like a knob of flaky butter.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich

Sharmaexplains that raw eggs are “about 50% water; during boiling, this water participates in the chemical and physical changes inside the egg…and is no longer readily available. As the egg and yolk proteins denature and solidify, they form a mesh and squeeze their water out.” Sharma says that this cooked egg “mesh” becomes kind of like a raincoat preventing water from coming in and drenching your outfit. When the small dustings of cooked yolk are sprinkled throughout the dough, they get in the way of strong, overly chewygluten formation.

The technique, as it turns out, has been around much longer than theRitz London Cookbook. New York restaurant owner Larry Forgione learned about this same technique when his friend James Beard shared his mother’s recipe for shortcake as the two were relaxing in Beard’s townhouse. Forgione was so intrigued by the shortcake’s perfectly tender crumb that he put it on the menu at his influential Manhattan restaurant, An American Place, which opened in 1983.

Pastry chef and cookbook author Claudia Fleming first learned about this technique in a professional kitchen from the former pastry chef at Union Square Cafe, where Fleming worked in the late ’80s.In her cookbook,Delectable, the technique comes into play in arecipe for blackberry shortcake. Here, Fleming uses typical shortcake ingredients such as all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, turbinado sugar, and heavy cream, but she adds two hard-boiled yolks to her dough mixture. The resulting texture is soft and buttery.

For Truly Tender Biscuits, You Need a Hard-Boiled Egg (2024)

FAQs

For Truly Tender Biscuits, You Need a Hard-Boiled Egg? ›

As it turns out, adding hard-boiled egg yolks to your biscuit dough is a way to ward off an overworked, tough dough that can be the downfall of a butter-based pastry. When the trick is employed, the pastry shatters and then dissolves in your mouth quickly, tasting like a knob of flaky butter.

What does adding an egg to biscuits do? ›

Across all temperatures, the biscuits made with the egg were decidedly taller (and, in my view, more beautiful). They were less fragile, with a doughier moistness that the all-butter biscuits were missing.

Why add egg yolk to shortbread? ›

Adding hard-boiled egg yolks to a basic shortbread recipe makes cookies more tender with the perfect buttery-soft texture. The addition is a sure-fire way to improve the texture of your cookies, but perhaps not always worth the extra time and effort.

What is the function of eggs in biscuits? ›

Eggs play an important role in everything from cakes and cookies to meringues and pastry cream — they create structure and stability within a batter, they help thicken and emulsify sauces and custards, they add moisture to cakes and other baked goods, and can even act as glue or glaze.

Do biscuits contain eggs? ›

Generally biscuits are made of flour and sugar. There is no egg involved in it. If you are looking for best Cookie and biscuits in india then I would suggest Being Bakers- in pune that bakes biscuits of all flavour with rich taste and healthy ingredients.

Do bourbon biscuits contain eggs? ›

Biscuit(80%) [WHEAT Flour(with Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Sugar, Butter(MILK), EGG, Water, Cocoa Powder(3%), Raising Agents(Disodium Diphosphate, Patassium Carbonate), Flavouring, Salt], Filling (20%) {Sugar, Margarine(Palm Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Water, Salt), Belgian Milk Chocolate (3%) [Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole ...

What is the role of eggs in the biscuit making process? ›

Whole eggs, egg yolks and egg whites are all used to add structure to batters. The yolk's elevated fat content helps it bind fats and liquids together through what's called an emulsion. Emulsion is just a fancy word for two liquids that don't usually blend together on their own, like oil and water.

What is the trick to shortbread? ›

Tips To Make the Best Shortbread Cookies
  1. Choose High Quality Butter. No matter what brand of butter you buy, if it's real butter, you can rest assured that it's the best. ...
  2. Keep Ingredients Simple. ...
  3. Add Flavor. ...
  4. Don't Overwork. ...
  5. Shape Dough. ...
  6. Chill Before Baking. ...
  7. Bake Until Golden. ...
  8. Add Finishing Touches.

Why did my shortbread turn out chewy? ›

Undercooked shortbread will be doughy and chewy. Slightly overcooked and it will become chalky, brittle and hard. Is shortbread supposed to be soft when it comes out of the oven? Yes, upon cooling it will firm up.

What does egg yolk do to dough? ›

The whole egg contributes to the richness and moisture content of the dough and enhances the overall flavor and texture of the bread. The yolks, being rich in fats, enhance emulsification and ensure a smoother texture. Whereas, the whites, when beaten, create stable foams, adding a light and airy quality to the bread.

What is a substitute for eggs in biscuits? ›

When you're baking and run out of eggs
  1. 1 egg = 2 tablespoons water + 2 teaspoons baking powder + 1 teaspoon vegetable oil.
  2. 1 egg = 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana.
  3. 1 egg = 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds and 3 tablespoons of water.
  4. 1 egg = 3 tablespoons aquafaba.

Can you use milk instead of eggs in biscuits? ›

Milk replaces the moisture provided by eggs in “traditional” chocolate chip cookie recipes. However, as I said at the top of the page, other egg substitutes include applesauce, arrowroot, leftover chickpea water, carbonated water, vinegar & baking powder, soft tofu, ground chia seeds, etc.

Why are biscuits often finished with an egg wash? ›

An egg white brushing will yield a nice, clear shine, or as Hysmith describes it, "that glazed look." Aside from using an egg white-only egg wash to add shine, it is also useful in helping sugar adhere to cookie or pastry dough as an edible glue.

What does adding an egg to biscuits do to you? ›

As it turns out, adding hard-boiled egg yolks to your biscuit dough is a way to ward off an overworked, tough dough that can be the downfall of a butter-based pastry. When the trick is employed, the pastry shatters and then dissolves in your mouth quickly, tasting like a knob of flaky butter.

Do American biscuits have eggs? ›

The biscuit and scone share British heritage, quick bread status, and the basic foundation of flour, fat, and liquid. But as they evolved to what they are today, scone recipes use eggs, and biscuit recipes do not.

What is the oldest biscuit in the world? ›

The earliest surviving example of a biscuit is from 1784, and it is a ship's biscuit. They were renowned for their inedibility, and were so indestructible that some sailors used them as postcards.

What does adding egg to dough do? ›

besides the nutritional benefits there are a few other good reasons to use egg in breadmaking. It makes the bread lighter and fluffier. The reason for that is the fat in the yolk that inhibits gluten formation just as any other fat would. This results in a looser dough that can expand and puff up more.

What is the secret to making biscuits rise? ›

Keep the oven hot.

When baking buttery treats like biscuits, the key is to bake them at a temperature where the water in the butter turns quickly to steam. This steam is a big part of how the biscuits achieve their height, as it evaporates up and out.

What does adding an extra egg do to baked goods? ›

The combination of structure and leavening is what gives baked goods their rise. The more eggs that are added, the stronger the physical protein bonds will be.

What happens when you add egg to pastry dough? ›

Egg yolks added to shortcrust pastry make it richer and slows down the development of the gluten in the flour, which is exactly what you want. Gluten has an elastic quality which can make pastry rubbery if overdeveloped. But the resulting crumbly dough can be difficult to work with.

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