Sunny and I woke up very early this morning to prepare a festive brunch for the whole family. We made some fresh juices, smoothies, crêpes, hashbrowns and sour cream biscuits. Making biscuits is a little messy but so worth it. Our family is very fond of buttermilk biscuits, but sour cream biscuits are even more decadent and delicious. The sour cream imparts a tangy flavor and richness that is hard to beat. We flavored the biscuits with parmesan cheese and garlic chives from the garden.
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but my Aunt Elise is visiting us from Vietnam. She’s never had biscuits before, and so she looked at the little rounds of bread with curiosity. After she took her first bite, she was absolutely hooked. Biscuits truly are universal in their appeal.
1. Info for Homemade Biscuits with Sour Cream, Chives and Parmesan
- Cook Time: unavailable
- Total Time: unavailable
- Servings: 25
- Calories: unavailable
2. Ingredients for Homemade Biscuits with Sour Cream, Chives and Parmesan
- 4 cups flour
- 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1-1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons granulated garlic (garlic powder)
- 1 cup vegetable shortening (16 tablespoons), diced
- 3 tablespoons butter, cold
- 2 cups sour cream
- 3-1/2 tablespoons half and half, as needed
- 1/2 cup fresh garlic chives, finely snipped
- 6 tablespoons parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper, freshly ground
- 1 egg
3. Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Reserve about 1 tablespoon of flour for rolling the dough on the pastry board.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar, cream of tartar and baking soda. Sift all the dry ingredients.
- Reserve about 2 tablespoons of diced shortening.
- In a bowl of a stand-mixer (or a large mixing bowl), place the dry ingredients. Grate the butter over the bowl using a cheese grater. Add the diced shortening. Mix the ingredients using the dough hook attachment of the stand-mixer (if you don’t have one, the back of a fork works fine as well). Start with the lowest speed of the machine. Once all the butter pieces are coated with flour, add the sour cream, granulated garlic, 5 tablespoons of grated parmesan, white pepper and the chives. Mix until coarsely blended and still crumbly. Remove the bowl from the stand-mixer. Incorporate 2 to 2-1/2 tablespoons of half and half and the reserved shortening to the biscuit mixture. Do NOT over-mix; otherwise the biscuits will have a dense texture.
- Sprinkle flour over a pastry board and transfer the biscuit dough. Using a rolling pin, even out the dough to about a 1-inch thickness. Create 23 disks using (2-5/8-inch diameter or 68 millimeters) biscuit cutters and form the last 2 disks with the remnants of dough (knead the dough as little as possible).
- Using a fork, beat the egg with a tablespoon of half and half. Lightly brush the egg wash over the biscuits. Make sure to coat the entire outer surface. Sprinkle with the remaining grated parmesan.
- Place the biscuits on a baking sheet, previously lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Bake for 22-23 minutes.
- Serve warm with a basil and chive flavored-butter, chive sour cream dip, gravy on the side or a sweet potato and roasted bell pepper soup.
- Bon appétit!