Sour Cream And Chive Biscuits

 

Sour Cream and Chive Biscuits

These dreamy biscuits are all about technique. The dough will seem dry when you gather it together, but trust in the process. To make sure your butter is cold enough (and it should be cold!), move it from the fridge to the freezer for 10 minutes before cutting into chunks. If you get excited about seeing neat little layers in your biscuits, cut into rectangles with a very sharp, oiled chef’s knife. It probably goes without saying, but fresh warm biscuits are greater than ones even a few hours old.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups (875 mL) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 1/2 tsp (12 mL) Diamond Crystal kosher salt
3/4 tsp (4 mL) baking soda
2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) sugar
16 tbsp (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch (1-cm) pieces
1 3/4 cups + 1 tbsp (425 + 15 mL) sour cream, divided
1/2 cup (125 mL) finely sliced chives

Directions: 

Place rack in middle of oven and preheat to 425°F (218°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Add flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and sugar to a food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until butter is in pea-size bits. Transfer to a large bowl. Add 1 3/4 cups (425 mL) sour cream and the chives. Mix with a fork to distribute evenly. Bring mixture together with your hands and knead a couple of times until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out onto a clean surface and pat into a 1-inch (2.5-cm) thick square, bringing in stray bits on the sides as you go.

Cut dough into four equal-size pieces. Stack pieces on top of one another and press down to combine the pieces. Dust work surface with flour and roll dough into a 1-inch (2.5-cm) thick square. If you like your biscuits to look neat, trim edges of dough. Cut into 12 equal-size rectangles. Transfer to prepared baking sheet, spacing apart equally. Place sheet in freezer for 10 minutes or fridge for 30 minutes.

Thin remaining 1 tbsp (15 mL) sour cream with a little water until it’s the consistency of heavy cream. Brush over tops of biscuits and bake biscuits in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until tops and bottoms are deep golden.          Makes 12 biscuits