Individual Strawberry Shortcakes

IngredIenTS
8 tablespoon butter, cold
and cubed
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar plus 3
tablespoons sugar, plus
8 teaspoons
1 quart strawberries, hulled
and quartered
2/3 cup half-and-half, plus ¼ cup
Sweetened whipped cream
Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish

PrepArATIon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium mixing bowl, toss the strawberries and ¼ cup sugar together. Set aside until time to serve.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together flour, baking powder, salt and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Then pulse in the cold butter cubes until a coarse meal is formed. Turn the flour mixture out into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Pour in 2/3 cup half-and-half and gently mix it in with a rubber spatula or fork, taking care not to over mix the dough or the biscuits will be tough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a couple of times until it just holds together. Pat the dough out to ¾ -inch thickness and cut out 8 round, 3-inch biscuits.

Transfer the biscuits to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of each biscuit with the remaining half-and-half and sprinkle each with 1-teaspoon sugar. Bake in a preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until the biscuits have risen and are a light golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Split each biscuit, and spoon some strawberries on the bottom piece, followed by whipped cream; top with the other biscuit half. Garnish with fresh mint and more strawberries

YIeld: 8 Serv IngS