Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits
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This is my first Tuesdays With Dorie post as well as my first attempt at making biscuits, and I think they both went well! (Photos of the process here.)
First things first–I’m not a huge biscuit person. Growing up, the most popular kind of bread in our house was bagels (you can eat anything on a bagel!) so the majority of my biscuit consumption has been limited to the rare times I have ordered something at a restaurant that comes with a biscuit. (Every Father’s Day it’s chicken, waffles, and biscuits at Roscoe’s in Hollywood, but that’s a story for another time.)
These were good, but not exactly what I imagined them to be. I suppose I should have realized that a biscuit with brown sugar would be a bit sweeter than your everyday biscuit, but for some reason, I ignored that hint. Also, these were definitely a lot denser and browned a lot more than I expected.
And of course, it should be noted I don’t have a round cookie or biscuit cutter, hence the um, flower shaped biscuits. Also, I left out the nuts because nuts in baked goods just ruin everything! (So says my ten-year-old self.)
Ingredients
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
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.
Preparation
Whisk the flour(s), baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a bow. 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 toll 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.
Yields 12 biscuits.
Recipe from Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan.
Red Velvet Cake Balls
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Pictures of the process here.
First of all, YUM. Secondly, YUM. Thirdly, YUM.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I have to tell you that I have a newfound respect for people who dip chocolate by hand. What a pain in the ass. Lesson learned: Spend the extra money and buy the dipping chocolate in the little containers you find next to the strawberries in the produce section of the market. The one I used is called Dolci Frutta Fruit Dip Chocolate and it was delicious and you will thank me for it later! I got it at Pavilions which is owned by Safeway, in case you have a hard time finding it. This chocolate is so cool, once you dip the balls in it (yes, you may giggle) it hardens sorta like Magic Shell (please don’t tell me you’re not old enough to remember Magic Shell) and about five seconds later they are ready to eat.
So, not only are these good, they are easy! And I’ll even admit to using a box mix and canned frosting. I know, for shame! Am I still allowed to have a baking blog? Perhaps we can keep this admission on the down low. Thanks.
Ingredients
1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
chocolate for dipping
Preparation
- After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
- Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
- Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50.)
- Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
- Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
- Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)
My notes:
- I used a small cookie scoop.
- Buy the dipping chocolate!
- I made the balls then refrigerated them overnight (covered with Press N Seal) and dipped them the next day with no problems.
Recipe from Bakerella.
Happy Valentine’s Day
I know, I’m a little early with the valentine cookies. But since I have no valentine this year (waah), I made cookies to share with my coworkers. And trust me when I say they’re not complaining they get to start stuffing their bellies a day early.
I used my favorite sugar cookie and powdered sugar glaze recipes. Also, notice the cute X and O cookie cutters? I was cleaning out my cupboards and came across them–they were a gift from my mom last year which I almost forgot about! Unfortunately, I couldn’t do too many Xs and Os because they are huge and I would have ended up with only about a dozen cookies.
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And finally, totally unrelated, but if you got here via an article in your local newspaper (hi Judi, I tried to email you but it was returned), would you please send me a link or tell me the name of the paper?
