Blueberry & Lemon Skillet Shortcakes
- Yield: 6 to 8 servings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
6 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
¼ cup honey
¼ cup + 1 TBSP granulated sugar
2 lemons
2 tsp vanilla extract
3.5 cups + 1 TBSP all-purpose flour
2.5 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
2 sticks (1 cup) cold butter cut into small pieces
1 cup buttermilk, plus extra for brushing
Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (optional but HIGHLY recommended)
Vanilla Ice Cream, for serving (not at all optional)
Instructions
- Put your berries, honey, and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a large cast iron skillet set over medium heat. Cook gently until the berries have burst and released their juices; about 6 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 1 TBSP of the flour and stir to combine, to break up any clumps. Turn off the heat and add the vanilla as well as the zest and juice of one of the lemons.
- Meanwhile, create your biscuits. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, 1 TBSP sugar, and salt. Add the pieces of cut-up butter and the zest of the other lemon and, using either a pastry blender, two forks, or your fingers to mash and mix in the butter. Just keep working it until the butter is well incorporated (like the size of peas) and seems evenly distributed throughout the dry mix. Pour the buttermilk over top and then work it in with your hands or a wooden spoon. The dough will be “shaggy.”
- Transfer the dough to a work surface dusted with flour. Pat it into a 1”-thick rectangle. Cut it into 4 even squares. Stack the squares on top of one another and flatten again into a 1”-thick rectangle. Cut into biscuits – you choose the size. I do 6 huge ones, but you might think that 12 smaller ones is more civilized. It probably is.
- Place these biscuits in the freezer for 10 minutes (cold butter, remember!).
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Arrange the chilled biscuits on top of the blueberry mixture in the skillet, brush them with buttermilk, sprinkle with turbinado sugar, and bake until bubbly and the biscuits are golden brown; about 25 to 30 minutes. Place a baking sheet under your skillet to catch any juices, if needed. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Notes
If you don’t have a large skillet, you can also bake in a large ceramic baking dish.