Making Biscuits

Living in the south has impressed upon me the vital importance of a good biscuit recipe.  As a friend recently noted on Facebook:  "Biscuits are proof that God is Southern."  Regardless of your religious affiliation, or lack thereof, there's no arguing with that.  At her suggestion, I recently purchased (for only $1.99) the Kindle version of what looks like a great biscuit cookbook.  I have yet to make any of the recipes, but have been impressed with the first sections discussing the different types of flour, baking powder, and other essential biscuit components.  In the meantime, I'll continue to obsessively make my recent go-to biscuit recipe.

Obsessive may be an understatement for how I feel about the biscuit recipe that follows.  It's even gotten to the point where sometimes I'll wake up on a Saturday with an overwhelming 'need' to make biscuits.  And certainly no one around here has ever disagreed with that proposition.

Since I first discovered this recipe last spring on a favorite food blog, I've made these biscuits dozens of times.  They are simple, quick, seemingly fail-safe, and utterly delicious.  On Thanksgiving, I pondered whether there was a way to make these ahead of time for future baking and came up with essentially the same recipe on another favorite blog, with instructions for freezing and making ahead that I have yet to follow (once there's biscuit dough in the house there's little chance of it not being baked immediately)!

What I like the most about this biscuit recipe is that the moisture and the fat come from the same source.  As a result of the sinful 1.5 cups of cream, there is no need for crisco, lard, butter, or any other fat, and hence, no need for any of the 'cutting in'.  Without this labor (which admittedly isn't hard), the biscuit making process is that much shorter; I also find it easier to get a more consistent texture this way.  I've played with the recipe a bit, sometimes including and sometimes omitting the sugar depending on the meal the biscuits will accompany; recently, I always skip the brush-with-butter step, to no detriment. 


Cream Biscuits
As seen on smittenkitchen.com; she adapted this recipe from James Beard’s American Cookery

Makes 9-12, depending on how big you cut them!

3 tablespoons melted butter [optional if not brushing them]
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 425°F.  If using, 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 [let's be real people, I never sift anything]. 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.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 1 minute; don't overwork.  Roll out and cut into rounds or squares and place on cookie sheet.  Gather dough scraps and continue to make rounds/squares until all dough has been used.  Brush biscuits with melted butter.  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.]