Nuts About Biscuits

I've always been crazy about Biscuits. I love them in any way, shape or form. I have a really great biscuit recipe that I got from my mother years ago. Flakey and tender, they rise to every occasion, and have become somewhat of an expected treat when people come to share a meal with us here at Oak Cottage.




I was thrilled this week when the Tuesday With Dorie recipe turned out to be a biscuit one!! Although I could never hope to replace my tried and true family favourite, it's nice once in a while to try something different.

These biscuits, while a bit sweeter than the ones I am used to, were absolutely gorgeous! They have a lovely short crumb, a wonderfully flakey texture, and beautiful flavour, not to mention the delightful crunch you get from the toasted pecan nuts. Not ever being able to ever leave well enough alone, I brushed the tops of mine with a little milk and sprinkled on some Demerara sugar for an additional crunch. I got nine beautifully risen biscuits from this recipe.

I can picture lovely little peach shortcakes made with them this summer when the peaches are in season, but in the meantime, we enjoyed them warm from the oven with some apricot preserves and a healthy dollop of clotted cream. Can you spell H-E-A-V-E-N??? I can . . . and I also have a pretty good idea of what it tastes like now as well!!!



*Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits*
Makes about 12 (unless you are greedy like me and make them larger)

2 cups all purpose flour (or 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour and 1/3 cup cake flour)
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup (Packed) light brown sugar
5 TBs cold unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans, preferable toasted

Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 205*C/425*F. Get out a sharp 2 inch diameter biscuit cutter, and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Whisk the flour(s), baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a bowl. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps. Drop in teh butter and, using your fingertips (Dorie's favourite method as well as mine) or a pastry blender, cut and run the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly. You'll have pea size pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pieces the size of everything in between - and that's just right.

Stir the sour cream and milk together and pour over the dry ingredients. Grab a fork and gently toss and turn the ingredients together until you've got a nice soft dough. Now reach into the bowl with your hands and give the dough a quick, gentle kneading - 3 or 4 turns should be just enough to bring everything together. Toss in the pecans and knead another 2 to 3 times to incorporate them.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Dust the top of the dough very lightly with flour and pat the dough out with your hands or roll it with a pin until it is about 1/2 inch high. Don't worry if the dough isn't completely even - a quick light touch is more important than accuracy.

Use the biscuit cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can. Try to cut the biscuits close to one another so you get the most you can out of the first round. By hand or with a small spatula, transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet. Gather together the scraps, working with them as little as possible, pat out to a 1/2-inch thickness and cut as many additional biscuits as you can; transfer these to the sheet. (The biscuits ca be made to this point and frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight and kept for up to 2 months. Bake without defrosting-- just add a couple more minutes to the oven time.)

Bake the biscuits for 14-18 minutes, or until they are tall, puffed and golden brown. Transfer them to a serving basket.