Saturday, December 5, 2009

The Best Biscuits

Biscuits were not a big part of my life or my cooking before I met and married Phil. But, for Phil, biscuits were a staple in their family's diet. I learned early on that breakfast at Phil's parents' house would likely be biscuits, enjoyed with butter and jelly or, his dad's favorite, light corn syrup. They like their biscuits fairly small and barely browned. And that is breakfast.

Well, for most of our marriage I have been on a quest to find a biscuit recipe that I like and that meets Phil's biscuit standards, though I must confess, that I prefer my biscuits a little more golden brown with some crispness to the edges. This summer, I found a recipe on one of my favorite sites, Dine and Dish, that we like a lot and have now enjoyed several times. The buttermilk biscuits are great for biscuits and gravy and flash freeze really well.

But, this morning, I tried Smitten Kitchen's Cream Biscuits, and they are awesome. They're really good with butter and jelly or honey, but with the optional sugar included, they don't even need either one. (They are almost like the biscuits I make for strawberry shortcake, so it's not surprise that they are good plain.)

If you like biscuits, try these!

Cream Biscuits
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the surface
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt butter in a small pot or microwave dish, and set aside. Sift two cups flour, the baking powder, salt and (if using) sugar into a large bowl. Fold in 1 1/4 cups cream. If the dough is not soft or easily handled, fold in the remaining 1/4 cup cream, little by little. (I ended up using two additional tablespoons, or half the unused cream.)
Turn dough onto a floured surface, mound it into a ball and, using your hands, press it to a thickness of about 3/4 inch. (I used a rolling pin.) Cut into rounds, 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Gather dough scraps and continue to make rounds. Dip the top of each round in melted butter and arrange on the baking sheet or just brush on with a pastry brush. Bake until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately, or flash freeze for future use. [Biscuits can be baked straight from the freezer, and additional few minutes baking time will be needed, usually around 3 to 5.]

3 comments:

Les said...

I'm such a novice with biscuits... is there any rule about not mixing too much?

So is this your favorite recipe for biscuits?

Kristen said...

I can't wait to try THIS recipe!! Yum! I like my biscuits with butter and honey.

Erin said...

I am going to try to do some make ahead meals and sides this month...so I am adding this one to my list to make. Looks good. Oh, and the cookie dough truffles might become a staple in our freezer. My hubby LOVES them and ate a lot of the stash before I could give them away :)!