Sour Cream Cut Out Biscuits

The last week of March and the weather has settled into that perfect Alabama spring mode: mid-seventies, low humidity, the kind of days you want to spend outside doing nothing particular. I have been eating lunch on my apartment steps this week, which is not an elegant thing but it feels like a small luxury every time. Biscuit watches from the window with the expression of a cat who has been wronged by the presence of a squirrel.

I got my first COVID vaccine this week. I was scheduled early because of the daycare essential worker status. I drove to the pharmacy and waited in line and then it was just done, quickly, and I sat in my car for a few minutes afterward feeling something I could not quite name. Relief is part of it. Gratitude. A little grief for the year it took to get here. I texted Gloria right away and she said thank the Lord, which is her all-purpose phrase for things that matter.

I made a strawberry shortcake this week with the first strawberries of the season, the local ones from the farm stand that opened back up last week. The berries are still a little tart, early season, which means they need a little more sugar when you macerate them. I made proper shortcake biscuits, not sponge cake, the buttery kind with a little cream in the dough, and whipped the heavy cream myself without sweetening it much. The contrast between the sweet berries and the unsweetened cream and the savory-tender biscuit is the whole point.

I brought some to work for Tamara and two other teachers on Friday because it is that time of year when everyone needs something good and springlike and made with actual berries.

The biscuits are really the whole thing — not the berries, not the whipped cream, but the biscuit underneath that holds it all together. After a week that ended with a vaccine and a text to Gloria and a long sit in a pharmacy parking lot feeling grateful and wrung out all at once, I needed to make something with my hands that required actual attention. These sour cream cut out biscuits are close to what I made that Friday: rich and tender from the fat in the dough, savory enough to contrast the macerated berries, the kind of recipe that rewards you for paying attention to the details.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 27 min | Servings: 12 biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
3/4 cup full-fat sour cream, cold
2–3 tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk, as needed
1 tablespoon heavy cream, for brushing tops

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a large bowl until evenly mixed.
Cut in the butter. Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mixture. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized pieces remaining. Work quickly to keep the butter cold.
Add sour cream. Stir in the cold sour cream with a fork until the dough just comes together. If the dough seems dry, add heavy cream one tablespoon at a time. Do not overmix — the dough should look shaggy but hold together when pressed.
Turn and fold. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently pat it into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle. Fold it in thirds like a letter, then pat out again. Repeat the fold once more. This builds flaky layers.
Cut the biscuits. Pat or roll the dough to 3/4-inch thickness. Using a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter, cut straight down without twisting — twisting seals the edges and prevents rise. Re-pat scraps and cut remaining biscuits.
Brush and bake. Place biscuits on the prepared baking sheet with sides just touching for soft edges, or spaced apart for crispier sides. Brush tops lightly with heavy cream. Bake 11–13 minutes until tops are golden and biscuits are cooked through.
Serve warm. Split biscuits and layer with macerated strawberries and lightly sweetened whipped cream for shortcake, or serve plain alongside any meal.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sour Cream Cut Out Biscuits — The Buttery Foundation of a First-Vaccine Celebration