Super Simple Summer Shortcakes

I LOVE strawberry shortcake. AND, I'm an unrefuted, unapologetic food snob, especially when it comes to dessert. This week, I wanted to take advantage of the berries I had picked up—blueberry, strawberry and raspberry—and make something special. 

The thing about shortcakes is that they're a simple dessert, and a lot of times, recipes for shortcake are COMPLICATED because the way they're written is based on the pastry method (stay tuned for a future post about that), which is typically used to make biscuits, scones and pie crust.

In my opinion, using the pastry method to make a simple dessert like a shortcake, especially in 100-degree heat (and don't forget to add the radiant heat of your oven), is the wrong way to go about things. I prefer to make a simple drop biscuit, using the muffin method.

The muffin method is used, most obviously, for muffins, but also for crepes, pancakes, waffles, etc. The idea behind the muffin method is that you mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then bring them together in one bowl, folding the wet into the dry until they JUST come together. Don't worry if there are still a few lumps in the dough—I promise, it will be alright! Over-mixing will result in a heavy, dry, unappealing biscuit, so resist the urge to over-do it.

I found a recipe on cooksillustrated.com a while ago. Their method was correct, and, for the most part, their ingredient ratios were OK, but the oven temperature they recommended was WAY too hot. Here is my adaptation of their recipe. Feel free to make adaptations to mine (like adding the zest of an orange or lime, more sugar, etc.) Enjoy!

Simple Sweet Drop Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 Tb. granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. kosher or sea salt
• 8 Tb. butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 cup chilled buttermilk
• 2 Tb. butter, melted to brush on the tops of the biscuits
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar to sprinkle on the tops of the biscuits.

Method:

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the 8 Tb. of butter and the buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold gently together with a rubber spatula. 

Spoon onto a parchment lined sheet pan, brush with additional melted butter, and sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake in a 450 degree oven until golden brown. Watch them very carefully.  

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