Coca-Cola Biscuits from Southern Biscuits Cookbook

I love cookbooks. And I'm not just whistling Dixie when I say that. I have over two hundred of them. So when a publicist emails me and asks if I would review a cookbook, I do my happy dance. And when they say the book is about making biscuits. All I can say is "Hot Dang".

So about a week later I was drooling over each and every recipe in the book, Southern Biscuits. Authors, Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart bring all their knowledge and experience together in this ultimate biscuit cookbook. It's filled with beautiful photography, including dozens of how-to photos showing how to mix, stir, fold, roll, and knead. You will rediscover traditional Southern biscuits as well as new variations, laced with ingredients such as silky goat butter, crunchy pecans, and savory pimento cheese. With this cookbook, you will proudly serve your family layered, fluffy, buttery, feathery light biscuits.

Ingredients for Coca-Cola Biscuits:
2 cups commercial biscuit mix
1/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Coca-Cola, divided
Water, if needed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
Softened butter, for brushing

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Select the baking pan by determining if a soft or crisp exterior is desired. For a soft exterior, use an 8- or 9-inch cake pan, pizza pan, or ovenproof skillet where the biscuits will nestle together snugly, creating the soft exterior while baking. For a crisp exterior, select a baking sheet or other baking pan where the biscuits can be placed wider apart, allowing air to circulate and creating a crisper exterior, and brush the pan with butter.

3. Fork-sift or whisk the biscuit mix and brown sugar in a large bowl, preferably wider than it is deep Make a deep hollow in the center of the mix with the back of your hand. Combine the sour cream and 1/4 cup Coca-Cola in a small bowl. Pour this mixture into the hollow and stir with a rubber spatula or large metal spoon, using broad circular strokes to quickly pull the biscuit mix into the liquid. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of Coca-Cola and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened and the sticky dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If there is some flour remaining on the bottom and sides of the bowl, stir in 1 to 4 tablespoons water, just enough to incorporate the remaining flour into the shaggy wettish dough. If the dough is too wet, use more flour when shaping.

4. Lightly sprinkle a board or other clean surface with all-purpose flour. Turn the dough out onto the board and sprinkle the top lightly with flour. With floured hands, fold the dough in half, and pat dough out into a 1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick round, using a little additional flour only if needed. Flour again if necessary, and fold the dough in half a second time. If the dough is still clumpy, pat and fold a third time. Pat dough out into a 1-inch-thick round. Brush off any visible flour from the top. For each biscuit, dip a 2-inch biscuit cutter into the reserved flour and cut out the biscuits, starting at the outside edge and cutting very close together, being careful not to twist the cutter. The scraps may be combined to make additional biscuits, although these scraps make tougher biscuits.

5. Using a metal spatula if necessary, move the biscuits to the pan or baking sheet. Bake the biscuits on the top rack of the oven for a total of 14 minutes, or until light golden brown. After 7 minutes, rotate the pan in the oven so that the front of the pan is now turned to the back, and check to see if the bottoms are browning too quickly. If so, slide another baking pan underneath to add insulation and retard browning. Continue baking another 7 minutes until the biscuits are light golden brown. When the biscuits are done, remove from the oven and lightly brush the tops with softened or melted butter. Turn the biscuits out upside down on a plate to cool slightly. Serve hot, right side up.