Buttered Pecan Biscuits

It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon here and the perfect day for baking.

Perfect day for making biscuits (y'all). Especially some stuffed with toasted, buttered, salted pecans.

These were amazing drizzled with a bit o' honey as the biscuits were just the slightest bit sweet. We might make these into bacon sandwiches later. Can you imagine the flavor combination in your mouth?!

Or slathered in more butter with some salt (photo courtesy of the husband - pretty impressive huh?)

Buttered Pecan Biscuits
Adapted from joy the baker
Makes about 12 biscuits

For the buttered pecans

1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons butter
sprinkle of salt

Roast your pecan halves at 350F in an oven for 10 minutes. Then move the pecans to a saucepan and toss them in the butter and salt until your butter is melted. Set aside to cool while you prep your biscuits.

For the biscuits

3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup cold, unsalted butter cut into small cubes
1 large egg
3/4 cup cold milk + some for brushing (I used 2% milk, you can go up to buttermilk if you desire)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Some extra sugar for sprinkling on top

After your pecan halves are cooked, up your oven temperature to 400F.

In a large bowl, sift together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and brown sugar.

In another bowl, combine your egg, milk and vanilla.

FYI for these next steps, I recommend getting messy and using fingers! Using your fingers, pastry cutter, or fork, cut your butter into your dry mixture until it looks like corn meal with some pieces as big as small peas. Add in your wet mixture and mix until it just starts to come together. Fold in your buttered pecans until just incorporated. Try not to overmix/overknead otherwise you will end up with tough biscuits (yuck!)

Dump onto a floured board and flatten your dough to about 1 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter or a cup, cut out rounds of about 2 inches in diameter and plop onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can place the biscuits relatively close together. If the edges touch, the biscuits easily pull apart.

Brush on some extra milk and sprinkle on some sugar.

Bake for 15-18 minutes.

Enjoy!
Sam

Salty Honey Pie

Why hello caramel colored flawless pie top sprinkled with beautiful fleur de sel! 

Well, I tried another recipe from that book I got a few weeks ago! Remember? The book that resulted in this pie?

This salty honey pie was actually the first pie I had heard of long long ago that first sparked my attention to the four and twenty pie shop. Salty Honey pie?! Who had ever heard of such a combination of flavors? Not I! I was immediately intrigued.

This pie tastes like a ... hmm how would I describe it...like ...it almost tastes like a mouth full of salted caramel latte. You know, the kind from Starbucks? But then, upon further tasting it is most definitely the flavor of honey...just all nutty and wonderful and the like. So wonderful and nutty! Side note - I did cut out a good bit of sugar out of this recipe and would recommend it as it was plenty sweet enough.

Shout-out to my best friend for the cheese platters on which this picture was taken!

Boy was I surprised to cut into the pie and see a beautiful custard colored filling underneath. It just made the pie that much more visually appealing.

The flavor in this pie is so unique and the fleur de sel saltiness is a wonderful, wonderful counterbalance to the sweetness of the honey. Upon eating a slice I actually ended up going back and sprinkling more salt onto it!

Salty Honey Pie
Adapted from: The Four&Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book

For the crust:

Any old butter crust will do. May I refer you to this blog post by my co-author Elyse for a wonderful recipe on butter and oil crusts...or you can buy a crust (judgement free zone here). My favorite is the Trader Joe's pie crust!

For the filling (this part is more fun anyway): 
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornmeal (for texture)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup honey
3 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Fleur de sel for garnish

Note about the salt: you don't have to use fleur de sel. Any flaked salt with do but plain old table salt will not. These salts have a higher moisture content allowing them to sit on top of baked goods without simply melting away into them and losing their prettiness. 

Preheat your oven to 375 F. 

In a bowl stir together your butter, sugar, cornmeal, salt and vanilla. Add in your honey and your eggs (once at a time). Once well incorporated, stir in your heavy cream and vinegar. Pour your honey mixture into your pie crust and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Your pie will be done when the middle is all puffy and your pie is golden brown. Allow the pie to cool for 2-3 hours thereby giving some carry over custard pie time. Sprinkle with a flaky salt and taste this baby. I mean...pie. 

Enjoy!
Sam