recipe from joythebaker.com

Dorie Greenspan

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar

5 Tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 10 peices

1/2 cup cold sour cream

1/4 cup cold whole milk

1/3 cup finely chopped pecans, preferably toasted. 

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Get out a sharp 2-inch diameter biscuit cuter, and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat. 

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a bowl.  Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps.  Drop in the butter, and using your fingers, toss and coat the pieces of butter with the flour.  Quickly, working with your fingertips (my favorite method) or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly.  You'll have pea sized pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes, and pieces the size of everything in between- and that's just right.

Stir the sour cream and milk together and pour over the dry ingredients.  Grab a fork and gently toss and turn the ingredients together until you've got a nice soft dough.  Now reach into the bowl with your hands and give the dough a quick gently kneading- 3 or 4 turns should be enough to bring everything together.  Toss in the pecans and knead another 2 or 3 times to incorporate them.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough.  Dust the top of the dough very lightly with flour and pat the dough out with your hands or roll it with a pin until it is about 1/2 inch high.  Don't worry if the dough isn't ocmpletely even- a quick light touch is more important that accuracy.  

Use the biscuit cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can.  Try to cut the biscuits close to one another so you get the most out of the first round.  By hand, or with a small spatula,  transfer the biscuits to a baking sheet.  Gather together the scraps, woring them as little as possible, pat out to a 1/2 inch thickness and cut as many additional biscuits as you can; transfer to baking sheet. (The biscuits can be made at this point and frozen on the baking sheed, then wrapped airtight and kept in the freezer for up to 2 months.  Bake without defrosting, just add a couple more minutes to the oven time.)

Bake the biscuits for 14-18 minutes, or until they are tall, puffed and golden brown.  Transfer them to a serving basket, and serve immediately.