Tuesday, February 26, 2008

TWD: Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits


This week it was my turn to choose the recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie and I chose pecan sour cream biscuits. I've been dreaming of biscuits for weeks. I can't believe I've never actually made them before, though I have made scones. Now I want to find or create a whole wheat healthier version of biscuits but hopefully still retain the tenderness, if that's possible. Maybe with whole wheat pastry flour and oat flour. Anyway onto the pecan sour cream biscuits!


I found them easy enough to put together, though I'm always paranoid about overworking any sort of dough and/or softening the butter with my hands by accident. I pretty much just squashed the dough together, patted it out in a shape that I shall call a squircle (square/circle). I don't like rerolling dough, partly because I don't like rolling dough and partly because again, I don't want the dough to become overworked. So I just cut the dough into 12 roughly even size pieces.


When they came out of the oven they looked perfect. I could see that they had risen and become a bit flakey when I looked at the side of the biscuits. Seeing the way biscuits and scones rise like that always makes me happy. And the bottoms were nicely browned. Yum yum. It was so nice to have fresh warm from the oven biscuits!


As for the taste, they were slightly sweet and the pecans added a nice crunch, as Dorie says in the intro to the recipe. I loved how the edges of the biscuit were crispy, though that only lasts for the first day. I'd use this recipe as the base to try out other flavours, though I'm not sure what yet. My mind immediately thinks earl grey biscuits! Because I'm obsessed with putting earl grey in things, but I'm not sure how that would turn out.


Go check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and see their delicious biscuit adventures!

If this sounds good, you might like:
Almond Coconut Muffins
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones
Apricot or Cranberry Orange Scones
Pumpkin Loaf

Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits
Adapted from Baking: From my home to yours

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

Preheat the oven to 425F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps. Add in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips 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.

Stir the sour cream and milk together and pour over the dry ingredients. With a fork, gently toss and turn the ingredients together until you've got a nice soft dough. Wwith your hands give the dough a quick, gentle kneading - 3 or 4 turns 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.

Either use a biscuit cutter or cut the biscuits into small squares. By hand or with a small spatula, transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet. Gather together the scraps, working 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.

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

*I didn't do it this time but next time I'm going to freeze the butter and grate it (like cheese) then just stir it in, as suggested by Leigh.

43 comments:

Mary said...

Thanks for a great selection...this was my favorite so far! congrats on your biscuit making, they look beautiful.

slush said...

I was so glad you picked this recipe, what a nice break from all the cakes! I cut mine too, because I was worried about over working. I loved them. I will def make them again. Thanks for the great choice Ashley!

Cakespy said...

OMG. These are simply...awe-inspiring. The "short" lookin' texture is to die for.

Marie Rayner said...

Fabulous looking biscuits!!! Great choice too. I was really pleased when I saw what this week's challenge was going to be! I really enjoyed making and EATING these! Yumm!

Anonymous said...

Hey Ashley! Thanks for the great pick. I've never attempted biscuits before so baking these treats was extra fun. Mine turned out really light and fluffy with a great crisp. I was nervous because I used nonfat milk and reduced fat sour cream, but it ended up perfect.

amanda. said...

Thanks for choosing these! They were great.

And can I tell you how jealous I am of your flaky biscuits? I think I overworked mine because they were flat and ugly. Still delicious though.

CB said...

FABulous choice for my first round. Yours turned out lovely. Great job!
-Clara

Madam Chow said...

This was a great choice - my husband loved them and wants me to make them again. I plan to, but without all the mishaps I had!

Anonymous said...

A million thank yous for choosing this recipe! It really made me happy, and like you I'm looking forward to try to make it healthier and playing with it. Yours couldn't look prettier!

Anonymous said...

I've made biscuits with white whole wheat flour before and they turned out pretty good. They weren't exactly like those made with all purpose flour, but they were a very good substitute. I just subbed the WWW flour for the regular flour that was called for.

Gigi said...

They look really good ....mmm.

Sweet and Savory Eats said...

I love the free-form shapes of yours. Thanks for choosing the recipe this week.

Lori said...

Your biscuits rose so well! I'm jealous! Great selection by the way!

Zakia / Avenue Z Desserts said...

your look good, nice and thick. i like the square shape.

April said...

They look great! Thanks for choosing a great recipe this week!

Anonymous said...

Yours look so good. I love all the fluffy layers! Thanks for picking such a great recipe. I will be making this one again and again!

Just like Stella Used to Make said...

I really enjoyed the recipe, although I overworked the dough abit. I think your technique of cutting them instead of using a biscuit cutter is great. I will try that next. It is more tike making scones and my scones usually turn out better than my biscuits.

LisaRene said...

I love scones/biscuits (what ever the difference is) as much as you do. They are one of my favorite things to eat. Regardless if I'm making a scone or biscuit recipe, I tend to cut them all in triangles for the ease of it. Cut into rounds you have that wasted dough, and that's just sad :(

Yours look wonderfully light and flaky.

Anonymous said...

Great choice this week Ashley! You can see all of the flaky layers from the side of your biscuits - how perfect!

Di said...

Your pictures are wonderful. It looks like your biscuits turned out nice and flaky. Mine weren't bad, but I think I overworked the dough. Definitely a recipe I'll try again!

Engineer Baker said...

Mmm... flaky food porn... :)

Gretchen Noelle said...

Ashley - Great job for choosing these! They are a wonderful start for me and TWD. I *love* the layers you were able to get in these biscuits. That is what I was going for but never achieved it! Lovely job!

Jaime said...

look at how well your biscuits rose! great job! (esp for your first time)
thanks for picking a fun recipe :)

BitterSweet said...

Nice choice, they look so fluffy and flakey at the same time!

test it comm said...

Those biscuits look nice and light and fluffy.

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

I never ever attempted to make biscuits. Those look really good.

Oye Cookie! said...

i love bisuits. these look delicious. great color too.

jennifer
www.oyecookie.com

Beth G. @SweetLifeKitchen said...

Thank you for a FABULOUS CHOICE!!! These rocked the house and we LOVED them, I had a great time making them too! Yours look delicious, beautiful job :O)

Dolores said...

I made this week's challenge with whole wheat pastry flour with wonderful results... go for it! You won't be disappointed.

Anonymous said...

You picked such a great recipe! I'd never made biscuits before, but these are going to become a regular around here! Looks like yours turned out really well too, they look perfectly flakey.

Patricia Scarpin said...

I have never made biscuits and these look so flaky and delicious... Great recipe, Ashley!

Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen said...

Those look so good! These are definitely on my list of things to make now!

priscilla joy said...

I'm sure those were gone in no time...my brothers and Dad would have gobbled those right up...oh yeah, me too!:)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

you picked such a fun variation of the biscuit, for this week's challenge/event - love it!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Your biscuits turned out beautifully. So flaky and nice that I'd love to grab one for my breakfast!

Anonymous said...

These do look scrumptious. I love biscuits and scones. Every time I visit your blog I think, "I MUST get a new camera" (though not sure that would help me!)--your photos are just gorgeous.

Lisa Turner said...

These look perfect. Definitely something I would like to try. I can never get enough biscuits and scones.

Jhianna said...

Lovely biscuits! I was looking for a rise like yours, but no go with mine!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

wow--yours look super flakey! thanks for the good recipe choice this past week!

Chibog in Chief said...

oh i love this recipe!! it looks really delicious! i love eating biscuits but i never tried making one..i'll take note of this recipe :-)

eatme_delicious said...

Thanks everybody for all the wonderful and nice comments. :)

Deb Schiff said...

Hi! First-time visitor, here. Really like your blog! Your photos are lovely. This looks like a great recipe. Can't wait to try it.

eatme_delicious said...

Deb: Thanks so much for the kind words. :) Hope you like the cookies!