Americas Test Kitchen Easiest Ever Biscuits Food

HEAVY CREAM BISCUITS

Steps:

• Position oven rack in the upper-middle position; preheat to 450°; line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a big bowl.
• Stir in the cream with a wooden spoon until a dough forms, about 30 seconds.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gather into a ball.
• Knead the dough briefly until smooth, about 30 seconds.
• Pat the dough into an 8-inch round, about 3/4-inch thick.
• Using a flour 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, stamp out (don't twist) 8 biscuits, gently patting the dough scraps back into a uniform 3/4-inch thick piece as needed.
• Arrange the biscuits, upside down, on the prepared baking sheet, spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart.
• Bake until lightly browned, about 15-17 minutes, rotating halfway through baking.
• Transfer to a wire rack; let cool for 5 minutes, then serve warm.
• Make ahead--the cut, unbaked biscuits can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 hours; bake as directed.
• They can be frozen for up to 1 month; cover and freeze the biscuits until frozen solid, about 6 hours, then transfer to a large zip-lock bag.
• Bake the frozen biscuits (do not thaw) as directed, increasing the baking time to 20-25 minutes.

BEST EVER DROP BISCUITS (SMALL BATCH)

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Combine buttermilk and 1/4 cup melted butter in medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small clumps.
• Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of bowl.
• Using greased 1/4-cup dry measure, scoop a scant amount of batter and drop onto parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, spacing biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart.
• Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 8 - 12 minutes. They can be made up ahead of time and gently re-heated in a 300 oven for 10 minutes.
• Brush biscuit tops with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 5 minutes before serving.
• Test if baking powder is fresh: Mix 2 teaspoons of the baking powder into a cup of water. If there is an immediate reaction of foaming and fizzing, the baking powder is okay to use. If the reaction is at all delayed or weak, throw it away and buy a fresh can.