Thursday, March 8, 2012

Cream Biscuits with Cheddar Cheese                                                       
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I found it difficult in the past to find a good biscuit recipe.  I only have two simple requirements: one, that you can eat it for breakfast without it being too greasy, two a side accompaniment for a meal.  This biscuit accomplishes both of my requirements, and it’s incredibly simple to make.  I made this recipe once with heavy cream and once with buttermilk.  I didn’t notice too much of a difference, but Gavin preferred the buttermilk version.  All of these ingredients are likely in your household already.

I find it crazy that these biscuits don’t have any butter, but that’s just me!  I added some thyme to these biscuits the second time around and thoroughly enjoyed the addition.  I love a cheddar and thyme combination so these just suited me perfectly.  However-don’t feel pressured to add it!  It tastes great even without the thyme.

Cream Biscuits with Cheddar Cheese 

INGREDIENTS
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons thyme, fresh or dried
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (alternatively, you could use buttermilk if no heavy cream was available)

Fresh sprigs of thyme, to press into the biscuit

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425º and place oven rack in the upper-middle position. Grease a baking sheet with butter and sprinkle with flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, thyme and salt. Stir in the cheese. Pour in 1 1/4 cups of the cream and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, leaving behind any dry pieces of flour in the bowl. In tablespoon increments, add up to the remaining 1/4 cup of cream to the dry bits left in the bowl, stirring with a wooden spoon after each addition. Once the bits are moistened, add them to the rest of the dough. Knead by hand for about 30 seconds, until the dough is smooth.

To make biscuit rounds, press the dough into a 1-inch thick circle on a lightly floured surface. Using a biscuit cutter (if you don’t have one you can use a glass cup) cut the biscuits and place on the baking sheet. Gather the remaining dough and cut more biscuits. There should be approximately 8 biscuits, depending on the size of your biscuit cutter. Press a sprig of thyme into the biscuit.  Bake the biscuits, immediately after cutting, for 18 minutes. Serve immediately.

Source: slightly adapted from Cook like a Champion, originally from Baking Illustrated