By Teresa J. Farney
The Gazette
(KRT)
Yield: 14 (3-inch) biscuits
2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup solid shortening
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
1 cup sour cream at room temperature
2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter and flour cookie sheet or jelly-roll pan.
2. Thoroughly mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, cayenne pepper and sugar in large mixing bowl. Add shortening and butter. Using two roundbladed knives, cut fat into flour until reduced to small lumps. With fingertips, reduce lumps to small bits, rubbing them into flour mixture. Blend in sour cream and cheese with a few quick strokes.
3. Drop heaping-tablespoon-size mounds of dough onto baking pan, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake biscuits 15 minutes, or until firm, set and golden. Transfer pan of biscuits to a cooling rack and let stand 1 minute. Remove biscuits to another cooling rack using a wide spatula. Cool completely.
4. Store in airtight container.
Nutrition data per biscuit: Calories 188 (27 percent from fat); 12 g fat (sat 5.7 g, mono 4.4 g, poly 1.5 g); protein 4 g; carbohydrates 16 g; fiber .6 g; cholesterol 19 mg; sodium 322 mg; calcium 92 mg.
Source: "Baking for Gift-Giving" by Lisa Yockelson
© 2003, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.).
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
