Cream Biscuits

Perhaps the operative name for this recipe should be Dream Biscuits rather than Cream Biscuits.  I’ll admit that I’ve been fearful of taking on homemade biscuits but this recipe has changed my life.  With one bowl, a wooden spoon, and less than 10 minutes of time, these biscuits are ready to be baked without any plausible biscuit catastrophes.  There’s no worrying about pea-sized pieces of butter or fretting about whether the butter is cold enough; you’ll mix all of the ingredients together, do 30 seconds of kneading on the counter top, pat out the dough, cut out rounds, and bake – amazingly simple with extraordinary results.  These cream biscuits are high-risers and show off beautiful layers that you expect with a homemade biscuit and they will be the perfect addition with breakfast, soup, stew, or chili, and casual or holiday dinners (like say, the big one coming up this week).  I can also see them as being an excellent vessel for sliders or egg and cheese [and bacon/sausage/spinach/etc.] sandwiches since they aren’t tough and crumbly at all.  They are pretty much perfect biscuits and like I said, they are my dream biscuits.

Cream Biscuits

Cream Biscuits
source: The New Best Recipe by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated via Cook Like a Champion

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
  • 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Instructions:

  1. Place oven rack in the upper-middle position and preheat oven to 425º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in 1 1/4 cups of cream with a wooden spoon until a dough forms, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter, leaving behind any flour left in the bottom of the bowl. Use the remaining 1/4 cup of cream to moisten any flour left in the bowl and add to the dough. Gather into a ball and knead for about 30 seconds or until smooth.
  3. Using your hands, shape the dough into a 3/4-inch thick circle. Using a 2 1/2-inch floured cutter, cut the biscuits into rounds and place on prepared baking sheet. Reshape the dough once to cut additional biscuits. If desired, the baking sheet can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 hours before baking. Bake biscuits until golden brown, about 15 minutes, making sure to rotate halfway through baking.

Yields: 8 biscuits