Perfect alongside savory homestyle dinners, or fresh from the oven with sweet jam. Leftover biscuits dry out just enough the next day to be ideal for breakfast sandwiches or a creamy chicken dinner. 

The American biscuit evolved quite differently than their European counterparts. An English biscuit is more akin to the American cookie, while an American biscuit resembles more of an English scone. Still with us? Fortunately, while the lingo can get confusing, the actual baking is straight up simple. 

Adapted from both the Fannie Farmer cream biscuit and Betty Crocker buttermilk biscuit recipes, we designed this recipe to showcase Ploughgate’s Cultured Butter and Elmore Mountain Bread’s Stoneground Flour. Ploughgate’s cultured butter has a softer texture and lower melting point, making it a perfect complement to Elmore Mountain’s spring grown whole wheat flour. The protein rich, stone milled flour absorbs more moisture than industrial roller-milled whole wheat flours.

After a few trials, we’ve found these to be the best biscuits yet! Light and flaky, with a slight crust on the outside and a soft, moist texture on the inside. The resulting layers of bran, butter fat, and cream make this biscuit the tastiest quick bread you’ll ever make.

These are a huge hit with the Ploughgate morning crew for breakfast sandwiches, split and re-toasted, topped with fried eggs, spinach, red onion.

What’s your biscuit jam? Let us know how you eat them!

Yield: ~18     Prep Time: 15 min.    Bake Time: 12 min.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups wheat flour (our fav is Elmore Mountain Bread stoneground)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar (optional) 
• 1 cup (8 oz.) Ploughgate unsalted butter, cold, cut into tiny pats
• 1-1 ½ cups heavy cream 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Sift dry ingredients together with a pastry blender or a fork. Cut in cold butter until mixture is crumbly. Oat-sized hunks of butter should still be visible. The fat will melt during baking, creating warm air pockets. 
3. Incorporate cream slowly. Mix by hand, until dough lifts away from the sides of the bowl, easily forming a ball. Texture should be firm, but not sticky, like playdough. 
4. Turn dough onto waxed paper (we’ve found the best material is actually empty cereal or cracker bags, the dough never sticks). To form layers, fold wax sheet over the dough and hand press to ½” thick. Pull back the wax sheet and fold the dough in half onto itself.
5. Replace wax paper and press again. Repeat fold and press pattern about 4 times. On the final press, flatten dough even thinner, to ⅛”, and fold dough in thirds - this time, do not press. Biscuits will compress enough when cut to stay together, still allowing for flaky separation after baking. 
6. Cut out rounds using a metal biscuit cutter, or the top ring of a canning jar. For square biscuits, cut long lines with a serrated knife. For a clean cut, dip your utensil in a bit of flour between each cut and lift straight up after each cut. Refold and press any remaining dough. 
7. Transfer biscuits to a stone baking sheet or a metal pan lined with parchment paper. Doughs can touch for a softer edge, but for a drier crust, leave 1” between biscuits. 
8. Bake 12 minutes, until dry to the touch, or no impression can be made on the top of the biscuit when pushed. 

Variations: 

• Buttermilk: Substitute 1 ½ cups  buttermilk for heavy cream. 
• Cheddar Chive: Chop ¼ cup fresh chives into dry ingredients. Sprinkle ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese atop each hand press, then fold press, and sprinkle again. Roll edge of biscuits in shredded cheddar before placing on baking sheet. Bake until cheese is golden.