Cream Biscuits

On Thanksgiving Day, I made some delicious garlic yeast rolls in my beloved King Arthur Flour 10x10 glazed stoneware pan. I left the rolls sitting in the pan on the front burner of my stove, and somehow inadvertently knocked the burner onto low at some point that morning. I heard a crack, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. After the second crack, I realized the burner was on, and the heat from the burner had cracked my pan almost perfectly in half. The pan had been a Christmas gift from my sister two years ago, and it was my favorite piece of bakeware. I was pretty sad to have to throw it away.

I immediately set out to try and replace it, but the pan had been discontinued earlier this year. My sister and husband both searched to find me a replacement for Christmas. My husband tracked down the only pan our search engines could find available and bought it, surprising me Christmas morning. To our dismay, there was a slight flaw in the stoneware: A small bubble that had a tiny crack on the bottom of the pan.

We messaged the seller. "Do you have another? Please?!" Negative. We searched online again. Nothing. I called pottery retailers and we asked friends if they thought baking in it would cause it to crack. Online resources said it may, the pottery retailer said it probably would, but friends and Nate's gut said to try it anyway... but to try it with something that wouldn't make a complete mess in the oven if it decided to crack/shatter while baking. My answer: biscuits. And easy ones, at that. There was no way I was going to spend a lot of time making something that could end up in the trash. If they turned out tasty, bonus. My concern was the pan, truth be told.

To my surprise and delight, the pan didn't crack!! (At least not yet. I'm cautiously optimistic.) And even better, the biscuits that I spent all of 10 minutes throwing together were delicious! A slight crustiness on the outside, moist and tender inside. Everything that I love in a good biscuit. It was a double win!

These biscuits pair perfectly with jam - no butter needed. My personal favorite, cherry cognac, is made by Sweet Things Gourmet, a Columbus, OH-based business. The owners are as kind as their jam is delicious. Even if you are not in the Columbus area, their jams are available for purchase online, or you can just drool over all the amazing flavor combinations on their menu.

To recap: Pan = good. Biscuits = good. Jam = good. Life = good.

*Opinions about Sweet Thing Gourmet jams are my own. They know I love them, but were not aware that I would share my love for them on my blog.

Cream Biscuits

Yield: 8 biscuits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream (divided)

Place a layer of parchment paper across the bottom and up 2 sides of an 8"x8" (or 10"x10") pan. Preheat oven to 425°F degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients and stir with a whisk to combine. Stir in all but a 1/4 cup of cream.

Dump onto floured work surface and add remaining cream to the dry bits left in the bowl, scrape out and add to dough already on counter. Knead briefly (30 seconds) until dough comes together. Shape dough into a long rectangle and cut in half length-wise and then cut each piece into 4 pieces horizontally. Place biscuits in pan, then place in the oven on the middle rack for 16-20 minutes until golden.

Source: The Kitchn