How about tall, light, easy biscuits made in minutes with no butter being cut in. Cream Biscuits are the easiest and most delicious way to make this Southern favorite. They are especially good served with Strawberry Balsamic Jam.
This has to be the easiest biscuit recipe ever with only 4 ingredients. Cake flour is used to ensure tenderness. The cream takes the place of butter. When you think of butter, it is only cream that is whipped to a solid state with the liquid being spun out. So the use of all cream makes perfect sense.
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Why this Recipe Works
- The cake flour makes a very tender product because it's protein count is so low.
- There is no butter cut in so it's fast and easy to make.
- The cream replaces the butter for the needed fat content.
- You just need to pat out before cutting out the biscuits.
Recipe Ingredients
BACK ROW: Cake flour, heavy cream
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FRONT ROW: Salt and baking powder
*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1. Place the flour, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Mix briefly to combine.
Step 2. With the mixer running, pour in the cream.
Step 3. The ingredients are combined in the mixer. The dough should be rather wet when finished. If it is not, add a bit more cream.
Step 4. Remove the dough from the mixer and knead briefly to bring it together. Shape into a smooth ball.
Step 5. Flatten the ball with the heel of our hand.
Step 6. Flatten the dough to about ½" deep. Cut out as many biscuits as possible with a 3" round cutter. Bring the scraps together and cut out more biscuits.
Step 7. Place the cut out biscuits on a parchment lined sheet several inches apart.
Soft flour such as cake flour or White Lilly flour found mostly in the south. Closer in protein to cake flour, it gets its lightness from the soft red winter wheat from which it is made. The lower protein also make it more forgiving if over-beaten.
There is no butter to cut in which is the step a lot of people find trying. The cream is just poured in as the mixer runs and it is done.
Yes, but the biscuits won't be as light and fluffy as if made with cake or White Lilly flour.
Expert Tips
- The dough will be a bit wet and that it as it should be. I learned the traditional way of making biscuits from Shirley Corriher, a biochemist who wrote, Cookwise and Bakewise. With Shirley being from the south, I can't imagine a better teacher. She stressed the importance of the dough being very wet so the steam created in a hot oven would cause the biscuits to expand to great heights.
- If you're dough isn't wet, add more cream. Some flours are drier than others due to how they are stored or how long they have been stored. The measurements are a guide.
- Keep the flour used to pat out the dough to a minimum so it isn't incorporated into the dough.
- Make sure to use heavy cream for the best results.
- Cut the biscuits out without twisting the cutter back and forth for the sides to be even.
- To get ahead a bit, these can be refrigerated for a few hours without the cream wash. Apply the cream, and bake as directed, increasing the time slightly.
- Serve immediately or cool and freeze.
You Might Want to Try One of These Quick Breads
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Cream Biscuits
Equipment
- 3" round cutter
Ingredients
- 3 cups sifted cake flour (100 grams or 3 ½ ounces) Sift the flour into the measuring cup, then level off.
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ - 1 ⅔ cups heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F for a softer top and bottom or 450°F for a crisper top and bottom.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix briefly to combine the ingredients.
- With the machine running, starting with the least amount of cream, pour it in and mix until the dough comes together. It should be wet. If it isn't, add additional cream until it is.
- On a lightly floured surface, remove the dough from the bowl and knead it several times to bring it together into a smooth ball.
- Pat it ½" thick. Cut out the biscuits without turning the cutter back and forth and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Re-roll as necessary.
- Double pan the baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes or 450°F for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown and risen.
- Cool slightly and serve immediately or cool completely and freeze.
Notes
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- To heat the biscuits from the frozen state, preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the biscuits, directly from the freezer, on a baking sheet and heat for 8 to 10 minutes.
- I learned the tradidtional way of making biscuits from Shirley Corriher, who wrote, Cookwise and Bakewise. With Shirley being from the South, I can't imagine a better teacher. She stressed the importance of th e dough being very wet so the steam created in a hot oven would cause the biscuits to expand to great heights.
- If you're dough isn't wet, add more cream. Some flours are drier than others due to how they are stored or how long they have been stored. The measurements are a guide.
-
- Keep the flour used to pat out the dough to a minimum so it isn't incorporated into the dough.
- For the sides to be even, do not twist the cutter when cutting the biscuits out.
-
- Make sure to use heavy cream for the best results.
-
- To get ahead a bit, these can be refrigerated for a few hours without the cream wash. Apply the cream, and bake as directed, increasing the time slightly.
- Cake or White Lilly flour makes a very tender product because the protein count is so low.
- The cream replaces the usual butter than needs to be cut in.
-
Nutrition
Watch me make these on TV.
Linda Rollins says
I made the cream biscuits and they are wonderful and so quick to make! Thanks, Helen.
Helen S Fletcher says
Quick is the word Linda. Glad you like them.
Cop Car says
Hi, Helen: Sorry that your other blog is over - happy that you still have your pastry blog running. In our family, there were as many varieties of biscuits as there were cooks - male and female. My dad and his side of the family made flaky biscuits; my mom and her side of the family's biscuits were not flaky, but tender with a chewy crust. As far as I know, none ever used butter - they used lard, bacon grease, or Crisco. My great-grandfather's standard evening meal comprised a glass of crumbled, left-over biscuit (with cornbread when available) which he salted and peppered before adding milk. Memories.
hfletcher says
Thanks so much Evelyn. So many different way of doing everything! Thanks for sharing
Marianne says
Thanks a lot for this discovery, ...MMMHH !
Yes, scones are different, you may add raisins.
What about English Muffins, quiet different too, and tasty with orange
marmalade ? HHmmm ...
Marianne
hfletcher says
Hi Marianne - Raisins, cherries almost any dried fruit. Citrus peel and here in the states we even add chocolate chips. I agree about the English Muffins - really good. Very tasty made with whole wheat flour!
diane says
Dear Helen, thanks for this post. Quick question on the jam (and when to finish the cooking - I agree that the test of doneness can be tricky!) -- is it 200 or 220 since both are referenced --- and is it degrees C or F? Thanks again! diane
hfletcher says
Hi Diane: Paris, huh? Thanks for pointing out the discrepancy. I fixed it so it reads correctly which is 200 degrees. In the states, it's always Fahrenheit. These stay moist for days - I am still eating them. Used one for a peach shortcake today. When I was small my mother gave me shortcakes with half and half to get me to eat something - anything! I treated myself today and returned to my childhood for a short while.
Eva Forson says
Helen, I have always supposed that the American biscuits are savory, made with buttermilk and eaten as bread with an entree, and that scones are sweet, very British, made with cream and eaten at breakfast.
I am very confused so please educate me.
hfletcher says
Hi Eva: American biscuits are indeed eaten like a bread especially for breakfast or brunch. They can also be used as a topping for cobblers which are sweetened fruit baked with the biscuits on top as well as to top pot pies where a stew like filling is topped with the biscuit and they are baked together. Americans also sometimes use a sweetened version for a dessert called shortcakes where the biscuits are split, filled with a fruit filling and served with sweetened whipped cream. As you can see we use them for all parts of a meal. They do not have to have buttermilk, they can be made with cream, buttermilk, or milk. They originated in the South where they pride themselves in how light and fluffy they can make them.
English scones as I understand them can be served for breakfast or tea with jams, preserves or lemon curd and clotted cream.
English biscuits are what we call cookies in America.
Hope this helps.
Mari gold says
Can't wait to try,my strawberries are still producing. Do you process the extra jars? And can this be doubled? Thank. You again an again.mari
hfletcher says
Hi Mari - I envy you having your own strawberries. What a treat! I have never made this in an amount large enough to process. But certainly you could. I usually just leave mine in the fridge. As to doubling, I have never tried it. What a treat as a gift!
manisha says
:) Nice recipe Helen.....
I make scones in a similar way. Thanx for simplifying recipes for us.
hfletcher says
Hi Manisha: Mike loves scones. Make them with white whole wheat flour for him because of his diabetes.