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Quick Cream Biscuits

Cream biscuits with butter and sorghum.
difficulty:
yield:

9 or 10 biscuits

time:

10 minutes to make, 15 minutes to bake

introduction

A one-bowl, dump-and-stir affair, cream biscuits are the ultimate first-thing, last-minute option—perfect for scantily clad beach-house kitchens or for when you want to bake but don’t feel like hauling out the heavy machinery. The tenderizing properties that butter normally brings to a biscuit recipe are here left to the devices of heavy cream (slimmed down with milk to keep the crumb light). Light they are, though the texture of a cream biscuit is cakier than that of a traditional “lardy” biscuit. These have a crisp surface patina and a warm nuttiness on the palate.

equipment mise en place

For this recipe, you will need a baking sheet, parchment paper, a large mixing bowl, a rubber spatula, a rolling pin, and a 2-inch biscuit cutter.

  1.  

    Adjust the oven racks to the lowest and upper-middle positions and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.

  2.  

    Turn the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Make a well in the center and pour the cream and milk into it. Blend lightly with a rubber spatula until the dry ingredients are uniformly moistened. Do not overwork. The dough will be wet and heavy. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

  3.  

    Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll or pat it out to a 1-inch thickness. Dip a 2-inch biscuit cutter in flour, stamp out 5 biscuits, and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Press the dough scraps back into one piece, roll it lightly until smooth, and resume cutting biscuits until the dough is gone. You should have 9 or 10 biscuits.

  4.  

    Bake the biscuits on the lowest rack until they are nicely risen and deep golden brown on the bottoms, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to the upper-middle rack and continue baking until the tops are nicely browned, 6 to 8 minutes more. Remove the biscuits from the oven and serve them hot with plenty of sweet butter and honey or jelly.