Aunt Sally’s Famous Cheddar Cranberry Biscuits—SOURDOUGH STYLE
From “Aunt Sally”, Sally Muller
Aunt Sally has been making these biscuits for 35 years from the same recipe card. Rachel did merged this recipe with the original Aunt Sally recipe to make it with her sourdough starter
Yield: 32 thin biscuits (medium-sized) (2” tall and 0.25” thick)
Ingredients
3 cups flour
6 teaspoons baking powder
2 ¼ teaspoons salt
24 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cubed
3 cups sourdough starter, unfed/discard
1 ½ cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
¾ cup milk
1 cup fresh cranberries, halved
½ cup dried craisins
3 Tablespoons sugar (optional)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425° F with a rack in the upper third. Grease a baking sheet, or line it with parchment (since I tripled the original recipe, I used both oven racks and didn’t move the top rack up higher to allow both pans to cook more evenly).
Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar (if using), and salt. Work the butter into the flour until the mixture is unevenly crumbly. Then add the cheese. Fold in the fresh cranberries and cransins.
Add the starter, mixing gently until the dough is cohesive.
Originally, the first time I made this, I left the milk out because I though it would make the dough too wet. After baking them and had them out for a couple days, I think the dough could use some milk to make the biscuits a little less dry. Start with ¼ cup and work you way up to ¾ cups.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface (a piece of parchment works well), and gently pat it into a 6" round about 1"-thick.
Use a sharp 2 ⅜" biscuit cutter to cut four rounds, cutting them as close to one another as possible. Gently push and pat the scraps into a 2 ½" x 5" rectangle. Cut two more biscuits. Push and pat the remaining scraps into a 1"-thick biscuit; it'll be slightly smaller than the others.
Place the sourdough biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2" between them; they'll spread as they bake.
Bake the sourdough biscuits in the upper third of your oven for 20 to 23 minutes, until they're golden brown.
Remove the sourdough biscuits from the oven, and serve warm. Or cool completely, wrap in plastic, and store at room temperature for several days. Freeze, well-wrapped, for longer storage.
Enjoy the tradition!
Recipe from King Arthur Baking
Notes:
Don’t let these be sticky.
Cut the cranberries by hand (do it the day before so they don’t get mushy (don’t let them sit in room temperature). They taste best when the biscuits are bigger. Put them in the fridge until you put them in the flour. (If you leave them out then your biscuits will turn pink).
I used to put sugar in it (but Aunt Sally doesn’t do that anymore).
When I bake them (I don’t let them get really brown or at the bottom) if you are gonna put them into the oven again to heat up.
If you put them in a microwave you want the biscuits to be a little brown on the top.
Makes at least 24 (depends on size).
Don’t let it get too thin or too thick.
If you leave them out for more than a couple of days they will get moldy (put them in the freezer to stay fresh).
Dried cranberries are ok (the fresh is best) or a mix of dried and fresh
But a bag of fresh cranberries to put it in your freezer.
