- Merrill
This week, I'm embarking upon a three-week series on yeast-free bread recipes. Popular wisdom holds that you are either a baker or a cook. Very few people are both; Amanda is one of these few, but I am not. It's not that I'm totally incompetent as a baker, but it's certainly not my forte, and when forced to roll out dough or rely on yeast, I start to sweat a little.
Strangely, my adventures in cooking began with bread -- specifically a couple of quick bread recipes from the Joy of Cooking (more on that later). And throughout my life as a cook, I've gravitated to bread recipes, like those first forays, that do not involve yeast or rising of any kind.
Today, I'm sharing one such recipe for what are quite simply the best biscuits I have ever had. According to Marion Cunningham, author of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, this recipe was taught to her at one of James Beard’s summer cooking classes in Seaside, Oregon. Instead of buttermilk or regular milk, they call for heavy cream, which keeps them from being even remotely dry. And more great news for non-bakers like me: the recipe is completely forgiving. You knead the dough before shaping it, but the resulting biscuits are as tender as could be. Maybe it's all that cream...
Cream Biscuits
Adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook (13th Edition) by Marion Cunningham
Makes 12 biscuits
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- Melted butter
1. Heat the oven to 425°F. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a mixing bowl, stirring with a fork to blend.
2. Slowly add the cream to the dry ingredients, stirring constantly, until the dough holds together. Knead gently on a lightly floured surface for about 1 minute. Pat it into 1/2-inch thick round and use a sharp knife to it cut into 8 wedges.
3. Arrange the wedges 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet and brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. Serve warm with plenty of butter and/or honey.
28 Comments on Cream Biscuits:
This recipe works wonders and it's so easy. I've made them several times in the last few weeks, including once as biscuits and gravy on Christmas morning with a bunch family. Good times.
Notes:
Cutting in 1 quarter to 1 half stick of butter, as @ShoeboxKitchen, mentioned makes them flakier and all the better. Just break off small chunks of butter and smash each one into a handful of the dry ingredients. Triangle, square, any shape you want work nicely and, if the dough is too wet, you can make drop biscuits which turn out wonderfully craggy.
Due to cow dairy and wheat intolerances in the family, I use spelt flour in place of the all-purpose flour and canned evaporated goat milk for the cream. The substitutions work perfectly, maybe even better than the originals.
Thanks for turning me on to these! They're definitely my go-to biscuits from here on out.
Here's a lazy variation from down south...just use cream and Martha White's Self-Rising Flour.
These were fantastic! It was all we could do not to eat them all in one sitting, and I'm already looking forward to making them again, maybe with herbs or a bit of grated cheese in the mix. Thanks for sharing this terrific recipe!
Can you stand one more OMG? Just made these and cannot believe how easy and perfect they are. Thank you!!
Love that you posted this! My family has been making these (straight out of the identical Fannie Farmer's that my sister, mother, and I all own) for years! Sometimes we substitute flavored coffee creamer (like vanilla caramel!) for the heavy cream, for an added touch of flavor!
I have known about this recipe for a long time but have never tried it. This weekend I am making it for sure.
Marion Cunningham is a true treasure. Her first revision of The Fanny Farmer Cookbook, which was still available in paperback, is my favorite basic cookbook, and I always sneak a copy into whatever present I am sending a new bride or someone getting his or her first apartment. If there were only two cookbooks in the world, I would hope they would be that one and Marcella's Essentials (although I would not be willing to part with the two books that were consolidated into this one).
I enjoyed this year's Piglet very much and would have gone to the Piglet Party if I didn't have tickets to see Chanticleer at The Metropolitan Museum. Their performance in front of the Angel Tree starts the Christmas season for me every year.
I have Marion Cunningham's Breakfast book and this was one of the first recipes I made. Her book is a large reason why I am a baker. When I was in school I rode horses near where she lived. She'd zip by in her Jag and wave (the only thing flashy about her - so down to earth). Everyone loved her. Thanks, Merrill - made me pull out that book again and remember MC - how I cherish her.
These look amazing, Merrill. And like others have said, very similar to a cream-based scone (just less sugar, really). I wonder if they'd be even flakier if you were to cut some chilled butter into the dry ingredients before adding the cream . . .
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoI like the way you think!
Nice! My top scones are a cream scone recipe, in the wedge form. These look like they have all the same perfect features. Yum!
Hello breakfast, indeed! They'd be awfully nice for lunch or dinner, too, maybe with some finely chopped chives or thyme mixed in. I think you could definitely freeze these before baking.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoLove the idea of adding fresh herbs.
What a short list of ingredients for a stunning wedge! food52ers, you are churning out GREAT recipes faster than I have the time and tummy space to cook!!!!!!!
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoGlad you like them!
I use a similar recipe that was published in Gourmet a few years ago. I love making these on vacation -- everyone swoons over them, and they require so few ingredients and so little time! You can also just drop the batter (without forming it) onto the baking sheet, which gives the biscuits a nice craggy, crispy edge. Agree with Soozll above -- they make great shortcakes!
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoI love dropped biscuits too -- they look so pretty!
My first cookbook was the Fanny Farmer 13th Ed., and so I have been making these since before I knew how to make anything.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoSo nice to have company!
Is it possible to freeze these before baking?
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoI've never tried it, sorry! But they do freeze well afterwards -- just wrap tightly and make sure to reheat in a 350 degree oven before serving.
These do make a nice tender biscuit and you don't even need to put butter on them. They are so rich, I go straight for jam only!. I actually prefer to up the sugar and use the lesser amount of cream to use them as shortcakes for all the summer fruits
I've been making these ever since "Beard on Bread" came out decades ago--theey're simply the best.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoSo nice to hear that someone else knows and loves these.
I love the wedge cut. (Hate having those extra scraps from making rounds... )
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoMe too!
These are biscuits I may actually try! Signed, a member of the non-bakers club ....
add me to your membership list ;)
Aah! Just right for a non-baker like me!
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