Sweet Cinnamon Biscuits with Inebriated Stewed Blackberries

Living in Georgia, I know only to well that peaches are flooding the market right now. But before I get started on a peach baking frenzy. I wanted one more blackberry dessert. So when I described to Pap this newest recipe using blackberries, the very next morning he hurried back to his secret patch. I guess using all the best food-porn words I could think of worked. Because I now had a "free" quart of dark purple beauties on my kitchen counter.

Thanks Pap for braving the huge brambles, the heat, and the bugs to supply with more berries.

Ingredients for biscuits:
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out
1 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits and chilled
1 cup whole milk, plus more for brushing tops of biscuits
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Ingredients for stewed blackberries:
12 ounces fresh blackberries, or frozen, defrosted
3/4 cup cold water, divided
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1.2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled
Healthy splash of brandy, optional

Directions for biscuits:
1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick silicone baking sheet. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Pour in milk, and gently mix until just combined.

3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Kneed lightly, using the heal of your hand to compress and push dough away from you, then fold it back over itself. Give dough a small turn, and repeat about 8 times. (It's not yeast bread; you want to just barely activate the gluten, not over-work it.) Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough to 1/4 to 1/2-inch thickness in roughly a 12x12-inch square. (The dough will be tender.)

4. Using a pastry wheel, cut dough into strips approximately 4x2-inches. Liberally brush dough with milk, and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar. Using an offset spatula, transfer the strips of dough to prepared baking sheet.

5. Bake until deep-golden brown, approximately 10 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool.

6. To serve, divide sweet biscuits among 6 serving bowls, and top with stewed blackberries. Garnish with sweetened whipped cream. Serve immediately.

Directions for berries:
1. Place blackberries in a medium saucepan with 1/2 cup water, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, and cook, stirring with a whisk or old-fashioned potato masher to crush the berries, until the berries are pulpy, 3 to 5 minutes.

2. In a liquid measuring cup, combine remaining 1/4 cup water and flour. Stir well with a fork or small whisk until well combined and lumps remain. Add flour mixture to berries, and return to a boil. Cook until slightly thickened, another 3 to 5 minutes. Add vanilla, and remove from the heat. Add butter, stirring to combine.

Recipe adapted from Taste of the South magazine.