Hello from Atlanta, where I’m attending a conference for food bloggers and, well, roaming around. I might sneak out early and try to catch the dolphin show at the aquarium, but first I thought I’d tell you about this recipe for cream cheese biscuits.
Not long ago, Cook’s Country ran a story on biscuits made with cream cheese. It’s a long story that emphasizes cream cheese’s lightening effect on biscuits, how you shouldn’t overwork the dough, and yada, yada, yada, but I’m going to skip all that and just tell you how I made the cream cheese biscuits.
Cook’s Country used a food processor and froze their cream cheese and butter. I halved their recipe, skipped the food processor, skipped the freezing step, and still ended up with some ultra tasty biscuits. The key was not overworking the dough, which involved simply shaping it into a rectangle and cutting the biscuits into squares. My version of the recipe made six. They’re not gloriously sky high biscuits, but they taste really good and had a texture that reminded me a lot of KFC’s (but better).
Small Batch Cream Cheese Biscuits
3/4 cup (3.4 oz) flour
3/4 cups (3 oz) cake flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/ 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 ounces cold cream cheese (cut into cubes)
2 tablespoons cold butter (cut into cubes)
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk
Butter for topping the biscuits
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with non-stick foil or parchment paper.
Mix the flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl. Add cream cheese and butter and work the fat into the flour with your fingers until you get a crumbly mixture. Add the buttermilk and stir with a spoon until mixture comes together.
Turn the dough out onto a floured board and push it all together to make a 4×6 inch rectangle. Cut into 6 squares and put biscuits on baking sheet. Bake on center rack for 12 to 15 minutes or until they have puffed and are golden brown. As soon as they come out of the oven, brush the tops with butter. As delicious as these biscuits were with the cream cheese, they really did benefit from the extra finish of butter on the top.
Makes 6
Hi Ann,
They probably made the biscuits with self-rising flour which would eliminate the need for baking powder and salt.
am I correct that some biscuits I enjoyed in San Francisco about 20 years ago consisted ONLY of three ingredients
cream cheese
flour
butter
I’m always on the lookout for a good biscuit recipe but somehow I’ve never made any with cream cheese in the dough. It must add a nice tang and extra richness. I’ll try it soon!
I like almost anything with cream cheese-especially dough! These look great….hope Atlanta is not too hot!
Ooh, I love KFC’s biscuits. (about the only thing there I actually like.) 😉
oh yum!
We were just in Atlanta last month! – we spent five hours at the aquarium but didn’t see the dolphin show.
Ohh…I am making these this weekend. I usually make biscuits once a week using butter and sour milk. They are so good, but these sound good to.
I want to try these someday! They sound good!
Have a great time in Atlanta!!
I don’t make biscuits often enough.
@Lisa, I actually have other hobbies so I don’t bake all day, every day. 🙂
Anna, have a great time in Atlanta. We expect a trip report.
I’ve never had cream cheese biscuits, but the idea is intriguing. Another thing on my list to try…if only I baked every day like you. 🙂 Have fun in Atlanta!