JOE'S BISCOTTI RECIPE

CREAM BISCUITS
From Jack Miller (San Francisco, CA)

Here are tasty and easy to make biscuits (no yeast and almost no kneading--can do it with a spoon) that I have made perfectly on a Sunday morning in full hangover mode.

Makes Eight 2 1/2-Inch Biscuits

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs (optional)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (do not substitute half-and-half or milk!)


1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and herbs in medium bowl. Add 1 1/4 cups cream and stir with wooden spoon until dough forms, about 30 seconds. Transfer dough from bowl to countertop, leaving all dry, floury bits behind in bowl. In 1 tablespoon increments, add up to 1/4 cup cream to dry bits in bowl, mixing with wooden spoon after each addition, until moistened. Add these moistened bits to rest of dough and knead by hand just until smooth, about 30 seconds.

3. Shape the dough into a round, 3/4-inch thick; use a pie pan if you're not a sculptor.

Cut into wedges with knife, like 8 pieces of pie.

Place them parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking.


NOTES:

Bake the biscuits immediately after cutting them; letting them stand for any length of time can decrease the leavening power and thereby prevent the biscuits from rising properly in the oven.

They're better a touch underdone than overdone. If they're not melt in your mouth delicate and humid, they cooked too long.

Use the herb of your choice in this variation. Got none? They taste great with none, too.

Got no parchment? Use none. They won't stick to most baking sheets anyway.