Whole Wheat Cinnamon Swirl Biscuits

This afternoon, my sweet tooth had me hankering for a treat. I decided to compromise and give in to my sweet tooth, but with whole grains and no white sugar. This is a healthy treat that does not leave me feeling hungry again shortly after eating it. I like the fiber from the whole grains and the natural sweeteners make me feel so much better than highly processed sugar. I love not having the highs and lows from eating empty calories, which can spike your blood sugar only to have it crash again. These biscuits are the perfect balance of yum.....with better for you ingredients, and in my case a better mood, too.

Ingredients:

Biscuit Dough:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup coconut oil (solid - at room temperature)

1 tbsp agave nectar

2/3 cup cold water (plus a couple tbsp if necessary)

Cinnamon Swirl:

1/4 cup vegan margarine

1/4 cup natural sugar (maple sugar, or pure minimally processed cane sugar)

1 tsp molasses

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Heat your oven to 450 degrees.

To make the cinnamon swirl mixture put the margarine, sugar, molasses and cinnamon in a small bowl and microwave for 20 seconds. Then whip it together with a fork to completely combine the ingredients.

To make the biscuit dough, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the solid coconut oil with a fork or a pastry blender until it forms small pea sized crumbles. Next, add the cold water and the agave nectar and mix until the dough begins to pull together. You may need to add another tbsp or two of water to incorporate all of the flour.

The reason you want the water to be cold, and the coconut oil to be solid, is because you don't want the coconut oil to melt into the flour. You want it to have little chunks that melt in the oven leaving small pockets in your dough. This makes for a flaker biscuit. The cold water helps the oil stay solid until it goes into the oven.

When your dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead for 20 times or so. Then roll out the dough into a rectangular shape that is about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Spread the cinnamon swirl mixture over the entire top surface of the dough. Then fold the dough over itself in thirds lengthwise so that you get a long skinny rectangle. Tuck the ends of the dough in and roll it out again. It may get a little messy as some of the filling might break through the dough as it gets thinner, but that's okay. Finally, roll the dough into a long log shape and cut it into 12 circles. 

Place the circles into a greased muffin tin and bake for 12 minutes.

For 12 biscuits. Nutritional information from caloriecount.about.com

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 53 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  185 Calories from Fat  90

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  10.0g 15%

Saturated Fat  5.9g 29%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  240mg 10%

Potassium  160mg 5%

Total Carbohydrates  22.4g 7%

Dietary Fiber  0.7g 3%

Sugars  5.7g

Protein  2.2g

Vitamin A 3% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 6% • Iron 6%

Nutrition Grade C+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet