A Touch of Honey Makes These Biscuits Shine - Literally!

These biscuits rise 'n shine — literally. Thanks to a trick I learned from a food writing friend and fellow Atlantan Meghan Splawn.

I like to make biscuits with any all-purpose flour, because I believe anyone no matter where they live can make a great tasting and great looking biscuit. I also use full fat sour cream instead of buttermilk, because everyone can easily buy it at the grocery store…or they likely already have it in their refrigerator.

Rather than baking powder, I use cream of tartar in this recipe. You can for sure use baking powder if that's easier for you and you have it readily on hand. While I use baking powder a lot, sometimes I like to switch things up. Baking powder, if used too much, can bring a metallic tinge to baked goods.

The extra lift in these biscuits here comes from the 6 laminations, or folds, of the dough, but you can opt out to not do them and still have great tasting biscuits. Through Meghan's trick, the oven is preheated to 500°F, then dropped to 450°F just as the biscuits go in the oven. This accelerates the rise of the biscuits immediately and creates these magically tall, gorgeously layered and golden biscuits.

What makes these biscuits unique is the honey — a tich in the dough and some brushed on top. I love to use Manuka Honey harvested in New Zealand - it's an incredibly thick, rich and deeply flavored honey. It is expensive, so I use it for special recipes, like these biscuits. However, you also can use Sourwood, Palmetto or Tupelo honeys as well.

Enjoy!

Serving Size: Makes 6 3-inch Biscuits Prep Time: 20 mins Cooking Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups All-Purpose flour, plus more for dusting

• 1 tablespoon cream of tartar

• 1¼ teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

• 1 stick very cold or frozen unsalted French butter (the extra 3% fat makes the difference)

• ¾ cup full fat sour cream (don’t use low or no fat sour cream, your biscuits will be flat)

• ¼ cup very cold whole milk 

• 1 tablespoon honey + 2 tablespoon for glaze

• Flake salt to finish

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 500°F with the rack in the center.

2. Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt & black pepper in a wide, shallow bowl. Drop the stick of butter in the dry ingredients and roll until fully coated. Using the large holes on a box grater, grate the butter into the bowl. Gently run your fingers along the walls of the mixing bowl to get underneath the dry mixture. Open them so they are about 1-inch apart, then slowly draw them up through the mixture and let the flour coat and separate the grated pieces of butter. Shake your fingers like a whisk to evenly distribute. Then, make a well in the center of the mixture. 

3. In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream, milk and 1 tablespoon of honey. Pour into the dry mix. Using a heavy wooden spoon, gently mix the dough until the ingredients are combined, and the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Place in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 20 minutes to chill.

4. Turn the chilled dough out onto a clean, lightly floured work surface and pat out to about ¾-inch thick. Fold the dough like a letter, folding the top third over the center third, then the bottom third over the first fold. Lightly sprinkle with more flour and pat out to ¾-inch thick again. Repeat the folding process 5 more times. 

5. With a 3-inch biscuit cutter, press straight down to cleanly cut the biscuits (do not twist). Transfer to the cast iron skillet – the biscuits should nearly touch, but not completely. Bring the scraps of dough together with your hands, then pat out again to ¾-inch thick and cut out the remaining couple of biscuits. Place in the skillet to fill it out.

6. Turn the oven down to 450°F. Place the biscuits in the oven and bake 14 minutes or until they are golden on top. Remove from the oven.

7. Place the 2 tablespoons honey in a small bowl or cup and microwave on high for 10 seconds to thin it out slightly. Brush the tops of the biscuits with a pastry brush.

8. Lightly sprinkle with flake salt.

9. Serve.

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