Tuesday, February 26, 2008

TWD: Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits



This week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection comes from Ashley of Eat Me, Delicious.  I think we were all a bit relieved to see that she selected something that wasn't a cake.  =)  Last week was crazy--everyone at my house was sick at some point during the week--so I didn't get to do much baking.  (That's why there aren't any posts since the last TWD recipe.)  So I was glad to have something not too complicated when I finally got a chance to try out the recipe on Sunday evening.  While Dorie mentions that these would be a good brunch item, we found that they are nice paired with soup as well.


I really enjoyed the flavor of the biscuits.  Using brown sugar rather than regular granulated sugar really complemented the pecans.  I may have used a bit too much flour--I couldn't find anything in the book to indicate how much a cup of flour is supposed to weigh.  My usual cup of flour is about 4.5 oz, but I know the dip and sweep method usually results in about 5 oz, so that's what I went with.  I also think I probably overworked the dough--next time I'll add the pecans before the dough is completely brought together.  Like some of the others mentioned, my biscuits seemed kind of scone-like.  But still very tasty.  


Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits
(From Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

(Makes about 12 biscuits)

2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/3 cup cake flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
1/2 cup cold sour cream
1/4 cold whole milk
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans, preferably toasted

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees 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 the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips (my favorite method) or a pastry blender, cut and rub 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 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, 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 can 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.

14 comments:

  1. I think your biscuits look fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  2. They have the prettiest colour! The heart shapes are so cute!

    ReplyDelete
  3. They look perfect! I think I added a tad too much flour too. I had to add a couple more drops of flour to get it to totally come together into a dough. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovely looking biscuits. I cut mine into hearts too! Hope you are all feeling much better now! I bet the soup helped!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am so inspired by seeing everyone's different shapes! I'll have to make mine again now. Great job!
    -Clara

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your biscuits look great, and so glad that you liked them.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I like the different shapes you cut them into, especially the heart shaped ones! They look fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yours look so pretty cut into hearts! I also liked the brown sugar in these. It really does add a lot to the flavor!

    ReplyDelete
  9. They look great! I agree that adding in the pecans earlier on would be better to reduce the chance of overmixing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love the shapes! I'll use the pecans next time, but I still managed to overwork mine.

    ReplyDelete