Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Cream Biscuits – The Best Biscuit to Risk It

Every year, you dream about putting out fresh, homemade biscuits on the holiday table; but fear of failure, and the convenience of those popping fresh tubes, makes it nothing more than an annual fantasy. Then, you found out about these cream biscuits.

Instead of cutting butter into the flour, we’re using butterfat-laced heavy cream, which not only makes the recipe fast and easy, but also produces a biscuit that’s light, moist, and flaky. To that end, try and get some self-rising flour. You can make your own (see below), but for whatever reason, the pre-mixed stuff seems to work better. 

As far as cutting goes, I don’t like to roll the dough too thin just to get more cuts. I do it about 5/8-inch thick, cut six nice biscuits, and then use the trimmings to get 4 or 5 more. You can get 12, but that depends on the exact size of your cutter. The nice thing about this dough is that re-rolling doesn’t seem to damage the texture.

If you do decide to raise your biscuit game this holiday season, maybe think about adding some chopped rosemary or sage to the melted butter. That would add some extra aromatic savoriness, not to mention make your kitchen smell really good. I hope you give these easy cream biscuits a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 10-12 Cream Biscuits:
2 cups self-rising flour (You can make you own by sifting together 2 cups of all-purpose flour with 1 tablespoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon fine salt)
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2-3 tbsp melted butter
Bake at 500 F. for 10 to 12 minutes, or until well-browned

87 comments:

aaronchow said...

Another funny informative video. Great Job. I'll use real butter, I don't want to stop being friends. Thanks

Michael said...

Never edit out the evil laugh again.

Unknown said...

Do these have that buttery taste you find in traditional biscuits with the butter cut in? Or is the flavor different in that regard?

Chef John said...

They're very buttery. But that could be all the butter I brushed on ;)

hollow.nerd said...

*Sneakily bookmark*

Unknown said...

What percent milk fat do you reccomend? Because I can get 5%, 10%, and 18%.

Jonet said...

Have you considering replacing heavy cream with thick coconut milk, would it work? it has the adequate amount of fat n moisture...

Unknown said...

You're just a shill for the man, man. Biscuits are round because the man says so. Join the rectangular biscuit revolution and kiss scrap gathering goodbye!
Also, you can get some awesome crispy corners that way.
PS great recipe, can't wait to give it a shot!

Chef John said...

Heavy cream is like 34%. Milk doesn't cut it here IMO.

Mandarina said...

Please, I'm dealing with a rebellious oven that doesn't want to tell me how much he's going to get heated.
I WANT TO BAKE SO MANY THINGS I JUST CAN'T BARE MYSELF. my oven sucks so thats something I also have to bare with. Damn those non working centigrades mediators.

Unknown said...

According to this link, it's better to use pastry flour instead of AP flour when making homemade self rising flour. Could that be why it doesn't work as well?

Great recipe! I know what I'm bringing for turkey day!!

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/tips/homemade-self-rising-flour.html

Unknown said...

According to this link, it's better to use pastry flour instead of AP flour when making homemade self rising flour. Could that be why it doesn't work as well?

Great recipe! I know what I'm bringing for turkey day!

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/tips/homemade-self-rising-flour.html

Hollis K. Lee said...

Nice job Chef John you reading the minds of your followers now - after all we are 'followers'...

Its unbelievable that just last evening (19/11/13 at 8:30pm) I was searching for a good biscuit recipe as I am tired of the store bought ones.

Today I just did a casual search for updates after your Peruvian Turkey and BAM! - Cream Biscuits.

Unknown said...

Sometimes I like reading the comments as much as watching the video. I just wish there was a "like" and "dislike" button for the comments. And an occasional "WTF" wouldn't hurt either. Thanks Chef! Another great recipe. You're helping me become a better cook and I appreciate it!

PlantenMaker.nl said...

Dear chef John,

Can i use some grated cheese or herbs in this recept?
Probably when faulding the dough?

Many thanks.

Marjan

Chef John said...

Sure!

Chef John said...

Sure!

Unknown said...

I also put some cheese inside the dough. They came out awesome! Thank you so much for this recipe!!!

PlantenMaker.nl said...

Dear chef john,

Do i still need sugar in this recept with cheese?

Thkx,

Marjan

Julia said...

Dear Chef John
Why the aluminium foil? What happened to your silicon baking mat? Is it a sad story? If you have given up on it, please tell because I am thinking of buying one but I've put it off as they are so expensive. At least they are in Canada - my default country of shopping because I live here -- and everything, everything, everything is more expensive in Canada. So, if they are pricey and still worth it, share the information with the world, especially the NonAmerican parts, which are disgustingly expensive (Note: 2 references to Canada concerning cream biscuits. Why is that?)

Unknown said...

I love you! And the evil laugh! I had made a cake from your recipes but it took me a year to find the website because I didn't remember for where I wrote the recipe. You are so wonderful :)

DaveSetton said...

As one of your Canadian friends...do you know if whipping cream is the same as heavy cream? I've never been able to find heavy cream and have always used whipping cream.

What do you think?

Chef John said...

Yes whipping cream will,work!

Marijane said...

I love a good biscuit but avoid making them like the plague (and pie crust) because I HATE cutting in the fat! This recipe sounds like my kind o' biscuit. If I use the convection-bake setting on my oven should I reduce that 500* temp a bit or is that high temp necessary for the rise?

Chef John said...

Sorry, not sure about adjusting for convection! I think you can reduce a little.

Chef John said...

Julia,
They say that a 500 oven is not good for them, plus I prefer the foil since it will give it a crispier crust.

Elena,
Thanks! Glad you found us!

djc said...

So John, could we have a bit of practising what you preach? A few posts back you were telling us how cups weren't an accurate way of measuring flour and pro recipes would always provide weights. But it's rare for any of the recipes here to give weights for flour or sugar and sometimes even butter gets doled out by the tablespoon. This is particularly annoying for us peeps in the UK where a cup is something we drink tea from. Conversion tables are around but there's obviously a degree of imprecision here.

So how about when you do a recipe you get out that digital scale of yours, weigh the ingredients as you go and provide the weight alongside the volume measurements? Don't mind if you use your olde worlde imperial measurements, so cute, as that's an easy enough conversion. In fact I'm pretty sure my scales have a button on them labelled 'Go back 40 years' that will switch it into ounces!

Joe Owen said...

can these be prepped in advance? Or do they need to be cooked right away? I ask as I am considering serving them with thanksgiving, but I am concerned about the logistics

Lexi said...

Adding a little salt would be okay too Chef?

Chef John said...

No, because there is salt in the self-rising flour!

Sandra said...

I love this recipe.

Unknown said...

is it ok to make the dough and cut them out days before and refrigerate? thanks :) gonna be making plenty of foodwishes recipes for this thanksgiving cannot wait!

Khaira said...

can i use milk instead?

Chef John said...

Sorry, never tried that, so not sure. I would guess its ok.

PlantenMaker.nl said...

Dear Chef John,

You said that the buttervet is a important ingredient in this recept.

Can i use raw milk instead?

Many thanks,

Marjan

PlantenMaker.nl said...

Dear Chef John,

I really love the French Brioche bread.

So i really give them a trie Tomorrow.

I hope this will do, or should i make a Foodwish for Brioches?

Marjan, Holland

Chef John said...

You can use any liquid but milk only has a small percentage of fat compared to cream, so not the same!

Lexie said...

Hey Chef John, I'm a beginner at baking. I want to double or maybe even triple this recipe to make more biscuits (I've got a lot coming for Thanksgiving), but I've read that you have to be careful when increasing the amount of ingredients in a baking recipe. How can I do so without ruining my biscuits?

Chef John said...

You can increase no problem.

vampire said...

I believe this is considered scones

vampire said...

I believe this is considered scones

PlantenMaker.nl said...

Dear Chef John,

When the fat percentage is really importent, with raw milk you can ad some melted butter.

I think that coconutcream is an option.

Many thankx,

Marjan



Unknown said...

Just made these and we loved them. Try them with the bolognese sauce. Loved that recipe
too.

SouthpawS. said...

I've done drop biscuits with sour cream, instead of heavy cream. Tangy, crumbly, goodness. Sour Cream, flour, baking powder, salt, and butter were the only ingredients. Did a variant with some minced and carmelized onions mixed in. Sour cream and onion biscuits FTW.

Wonder how it would be with creme fraiche?

Unknown said...

I have made these biscuits with the maple walnut glaze and my family loved both, I did not put rosemary on the biscuits, but put that along with other herbs upon the turkey,so my kitchen smelled wonderful anyway!

La Joie Intérieure said...

Just made these for thanksgiving dinner and they came out perfect. My little newphew overworked the dough and they still came out moist and flakey!!!! Thanks chef john!!!!

Unknown said...

I absolutely love this recipe. Easy and quick. These are the most delicious biscuits. Thank you.

differentinpictures said...

Tried this recipe for Thanksgiving. They were fantastic. Tender, flaky, buttery,savory, melt in your moth delicious. Super easy to make and the dough is really easy to work with. Will be using this recipe for biscuits from now on.

Kirsten Winkler said...

Just tried this recipe and they turned out beautifully. Amazing :)

Unknown said...

Sorry if this is a repeat, but I had a sign-I'm issue!
What do you think about adding some buttermilk powder to this? These are the only biscuits I make these days, but I do kind of miss buttermilk biscuits.

Moocakes said...

Chef John, I baked the biscuits at 500 F. for 12 minutes and the tops and bottoms were brown but the insides were still slightly doughy. What do you recommend in that case?

Chef John said...

cook longer or maybe dough a hair too wet.

WeSkorrd said...

So delicious. I added lemon zest to mine. If you're wondering what the best British biscuits are, I have this.

http://www.bubblews.com/news/1828885-the-top-5-biscuits

Unknown said...

Oh My! That's all I have to say. Quite possibly the BEST biscuits I've ever had, definitely the best I've ever made. Thank you so much for an easy biscuit recipe!

Jackj100 said...

Chef John- Perhaps I'm the only one that messed this up, but my biscuits were burnt on the bottom. I only baked for 9 minutes and when the tops were golden I removed them from the oven. Not sure what I did wrong.

Jackj100 said...

Chef John- not sure what I did wrong. The bottoms were burnt. Baked for 9 minutes and removed from oven when tops golden. Thanks.

Chef John said...

Sorry, no idea! Maybe the pan?

Vbryce said...

Great biscuits! They will now be my 'go-to' biscuit recipe for now on! I didn't have have the self-rising flour but used your substitution. One note, mine would have burned if I didn't keep a close eye on them. Beautiful on top, but a tad too brown on bottoms. Will try at 475* next time to see how they turn out. Delicious, delicious, delicious!

Anonymous said...

Chef John, you have rocked my world! I thought I had the world's greatest biscuit recipe. They brought raves from everyone who tried them (especially with my hot sausage gravy), but I humbly remove my crown and toss it at your feet! Well done!

1Bigg_ER said...

Did a little experiment with these. I cut the recipe in half,added a tablespoon of buttermilk powder, half a cup of cheddar cheese and some garlic powder. What I came up with a fluffy light biscuit that tastes very close to the famous Red lobster biscuits.
I didn't bother with cutting, just dropped them by spoonful on a baking sheet. FANTASTIC!

Tosha_the_writer said...

Hi Chef John,

Check this out. I'm living with my aunt and uncle and their oven stopped working, and as my uncle has not fixed it or junked it yet, I went out and bought a toaster oven. I've made everything, but toast in this thing. It's amazing! And I've have recently enlisted this brave little toaster oven to make your cream biscuits. They turned out great. Although I did have to change the recipe a little because while I was in the store I forgot what type of cream you said to use. So I ended up using sour cream and milk. Next time, I'll follow your recipe correctly and I bet they'll turn out even better. Thank you for this and all the other videos I've watched that have turned me into a woman who can throw down in the kitchen.

Chef John said...

Nice work! :)

rumbleroar811 said...

Aw man, I'm sorry we can't be friends. My parents only buy margarine :( Great video, though!!

Unknown said...

Dear Chef John,

Can we freeze this dough and save it for another time ?

Chef John said...

I think so!

Unknown said...

Hi chef John :)

I have made several of your recioes just delicious but this one didn't turn out too well. I was out of self raising so I made my own as per your instructions. I was 54ml short of thickened cream but the dough turned out fine. At 500 which is 260 degrees for me but my oven only goes up to 250 anyhow they were completely burnt by 7 minutes and were still dough inside. I left them in at 175 for a further 10 minutes to see when the insides would cook. In my opinion they were a tad salty. I will give this a try again later on with self raising flour, any suggestions?

Chef John said...

The extra liquid would help, as a dried dough burns faster. Also, is your pan too thin? Cheaper baking sheets will also encourage burning, so you want a nice thick pan. Also, instead of foil use a silpat baking mat instead. Good luck!

Unknown said...

yes the pan is super duper thin, it was donated to me by Dad haha, thank you I attempt this again and now with a thicker pan hopefully everything else will turn out better too!

Unknown said...

Ohh they are sooo yummy! Just made them and enjoy it right now! We don't have self-raising flour in germany so I mixed it together and they went out perfectly!! Delicous and fluffy :) thank you chef john! I love your videos! Keep it up! Greetings from germany!

Unknown said...

Do you use salted or unsalted butter?

Unknown said...

Tried this and man... Tey are amazing! Can I even make a cake with this recipe?

Joanne said...

I live by myself, so I calculated 1/6 of the recipe, which would come out to about 2 biscuits. To that I added 2 T of shredded cheese and a sprinkle of oregano, rolled it out, and wrapped it around a hot dog. I baked it in my toaster oven, and it was fantastic! I didn't have cream, so I used a combination of melted butter and milk, and it worked just fine. Now I know I can make just 2 biscuits if I want!

Unknown said...

I've made these and they are delicious, but was wondering if there might be a healthier substitution for the heavy cream that would still work?

Unknown said...

These have become our go to biscuits. My son, who eats about 6 foods, loves them. Thank you chef John!

Unknown said...

Hi CJ! Will brown flour ok to use for cream biscuits (or for the scones recipe for that matter, my husband and friends loved 'em!)?

Unknown said...

Hi Chef.

Can we pre-cut and refrigerate before baking if being made same day? I want to make this with your Southern fried chicken, Southern green bean, and mashed potato recipes in the same meal. I'm trying to see what I can prep in advance.

Anonymous said...

Hi! Love all your recipes and the vids I have watched. Am writing a series of cute food tales for NaNoWriMo this year and will be using this little fabster for the biscuits my character is served in the cafe. xxoo! Thank you, and if the book ever gets published -- will credit you!

ps: has to "make" the self rising & hopes that will work...

Unknown said...

This method is a big hit with me! I was finally able to make biscuits that my husband liked and didn't refer to as hockey pucks!! So easy and quick and delicious. I even rendered my own lard at one time thinking that that was the secret to biscuits ( no it isn't). My dough was a bit wet but I'll know what to do next time (add a little more flour). Thank you Chef John, from the bottom of my southern heart.

Unknown said...

These were really good, my boyfriend and sister loved them. I made my own self rising flour and it worked fine and it rose perfectly fine but think it could use a bit more salt

Unknown said...

I know this post is old news in internet time, and you'll probably never see this comment, but I loved this recipe! It went very well with the raw honey from my friend's bees!

After making the recipe the first time to your exact instructions (using "homemade" self-rising flour), I then decided to make it again with one cup cake flour and one cup all-purpose flours to lower the protein. The fluffyness (that's a word, right?) doubled and added to the biscuits ability to create layers. they were amazing in my opinion, but I love fluffy biscuits.

thank you again for making great videos and recipes!

Unknown said...

I made the biscuits with the sour cream. They were soft, flaky and delicious. The only problem, they had a definite odor, so my husband refused to eat them. The sour cream was good according to the date. Are they supposed to smell? Thanks for the recipe and your answer.

missskitttin said...

I think he meant to say we use heavy cream, not sour cream...

Unknown said...

These are simply fantastic!

Unknown said...

Hi Chef John,

Could you use the liquid portion of your clotted cream for this recipe?

Thanks!
Alison

Unknown said...

Woww ! Grrrrrrreat biscuits!! These were just super with sausage gravy, and then with homemade strawberry preserves. Thank you Sir Chef John!

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Marininha said...

I’m from Brazil and just found your youtube channel... I loove american food but can only eat once a year when I travel, and many ingredients we don’t have it here like sour cream (which I love). I was completly sceptical that I could make one of these because I love them and eat every time I go to the United States. I’m so so very happy they work out amazing!!! Thank you!!! What a great simple amazing recipe!!! Love all your videos! They are hilarious!!!