Easy German Biscuits -- The Dumplings That Taste Like Gloria's Kitchen

Late October. The leaves are turning and the light is golden and I have a paper due and a fellowship decision coming and a Sunday dinner every week and Biscuit is demanding breakfast at five-thirty in the morning with complete confidence that this is the correct time.

I got the fellowship. The email came on Thursday at 10:47 in the morning and I was in the research lab with Dr. Ochoa working on data and she saw my face change and said: what. I turned the laptop toward her. She read it and then looked at me and said: Savannah. Just my name. The same way Gloria said it when I got into UAB. These are the people who say my whole name when something is large enough to require it.

I called Gloria from the parking lot. She answered on the second ring. I said I got the fellowship. She said: tell me everything. I told her everything. She was quiet after for a long moment and then she said: you have always been going somewhere, baby. Even at fourteen with that one bag. I could see it. I wanted so much for you to be able to see it. I said: I can see it now. She said: yes. That is the whole thing. Yes.

I made celebration soup on Friday night, which is the soup I make when something good happens: the chicken and dumplings, which is Gloria recipe which is now also my recipe, which tastes like safety and home and the good parts of every winter. I ate two bowls at my kitchen table in Birmingham and called it the best Thursday of my life so far.

Gloria’s chicken and dumplings — the ones I’ve been making since I first learned her kitchen by heart — live and die by the biscuits. Not the drop kind, not the canned kind: these Easy German Biscuits, soft and a little rich, the kind that hold their shape in broth and still pull apart tender when you get to them. That Thursday night in Birmingham, two bowls deep and still in my work clothes, this was the recipe that made the fellowship feel real.

Easy German Biscuits

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 12 biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/3 cup cold butter, cubed
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Instructions

1. Preheat. Heat your oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar until evenly mixed.
3. Cut in the butter. Add the cold cubed butter and work it into the flour mixture with your fingertips or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Cold butter is the key — don’t rush this step.
4. Mix the wet ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the beaten egg, milk, and sour cream until smooth.
5. Bring the dough together. Pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture and stir gently with a fork just until a shaggy dough forms. Do not overmix — a few dry streaks are fine.
6. Shape and cut. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat to about 3/4-inch thickness. Cut with a 2-inch round cutter, pressing straight down without twisting. Re-roll scraps once.
7. Bake. Arrange biscuits on the prepared baking sheet, sides just touching for soft edges or spaced apart for crispier sides. Bake 13–15 minutes, until tops are golden and biscuits are cooked through.
8. Serve or use as dumplings. Eat warm as biscuits, or drop the unbaked dough by spoonfuls directly into simmering chicken broth during the last 15 minutes of cooking for classic drop dumplings.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 148 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 18g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 210mg