Olivia Regard's Brown Butter Pecan Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 3/4 cup cold buttermilk, plus more for brushing the biscuits
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Smoked pecan sugar (substitutes: turbinado or granulated sugar for sprinkling)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place pecan pieces on a rimmed baking sheet, and toast in the oven for 10 minutes until fragrant. Remove from the oven, and let cool.
2. In a medium saute pan, melt butter over medium heat. Butter will begin to bubble, separate and turn brown. Once bubbling slows, remove butter from heat. Be careful not to burn the browned butter. Add toasted pecans to browned butter, and stir to coat. Allow mixture to cool slightly.
3. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
4. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt and light brown sugar. Cut in butter (using your fingers or a pastry cutter) until mixture resembles a coarse meal.
5. In another bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture, and incorporate to make a soft dough. Fold in the buttered pecans.
6. On a floured surface, knead dough approximately 10 times. Roll or pat out into a 1-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch rounds using a round cutter or cut into 2x2-inch squares.
7. Reshape and roll dough to create more biscuits using excess scraps. Place biscuits on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush biscuits lightly with buttermilk, and sprinkle with smoked pecan sugar.
8. Bake biscuits for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown on top.
NOTE: Cut dough can be flash frozen (before brushing with buttermilk and topping with pecan sugar) for 15 minutes on baking pan then stored in air-tight, freezer bags or containers for future use. If baking from frozen, top with buttermilk and pecan sugar before baking. Adjust cooking temperature to 375 degrees, and increase cooking time to 20-22 minutes
