I looove fresh biscuits in the morning and even though making Homemade Biscuits from scratch is super easy, I think the whole “cutting in butter” step tends to deter people from making them. But guess what! It can and does get even easier. I recently discovered that you can use heavy cream in place of butter and milk (both are heavy cream derivatives) and get nearly the same result. I went one step further and froze my dough so that the only work required when I want fresh biscuits is turning the oven on and setting the timer. 5 Ingredient Freezer Biscuits! YAS!
The Magic of Heavy Cream
I was a little worried the first time I tried cream biscuits because the little lumps of butter that are in normal biscuit recipes are what makes them nice and flakey. With heavy cream the “butter” is in microscopic globules, so I didn’t expect much of that buttery-flakey effect. It’s true, they weren’t flakey, but they were the most heavenly light, airy, and fluffy biscuits I’ve ever made. I’ll take that plus the extreme ease of prep over flakiness any day.
I’m not kidding when I say that I’ve had to exert real willpower every day since making these 5 Ingredient Freezer Biscuits. I “accidentally” ate three of them on the day I took the photos and I’ve wanted to bake the remaining biscuits every day since. This is going to be dangerous.
P.S. Heavy cream is usually a lot less expensive when purchased in quart-sized containers, so it wouldn’t hurt to make a double batch of biscuits. ;)
Can I Substitute The Heavy Cream?
No, you can not sub whole milk, 2% milk, skim milk, or non-dairy milk. They simply do not have enough fat to create the same texture in the biscuit. See the info above.
What to Serve with Freezer Biscuits
These tender little biscuits are perfect with some butter and jam, or perhaps some Homemade Lemon Curd. I usually serve them as a side to my eggs with breakfast, but they are also a nice quick side to go with dinner. And if you want to go southern-style, drench them with some Country Sausage Gravy! :)
5 Ingredient Freezer Biscuits
Servings 12 1 eachIngredients
- 2.5 cups all-purpose flour (plus some for dusting) ($0.26)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp sugar ($0.02)
- 4 tsp baking powder ($0.16)
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream ($3.65)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder until well combined.
- Pour in the heavy cream and stir until a sticky ball of dough forms. Sprinkle the dough generously with flour and then turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Gently knead the dough 2-3 times, or just until the dough feels mixed and has enough flour that it is no longer sticky. Avoid over working the dough.
- Gently pat the dough down into a 6×8 rectangle, then fold it in half. Repeat this two more times. Folding the dough in this manner helps create layers within the biscuits.
- After folding, pat the dough down into a 6×8 rectangle one final time. The dough should be about one inch thick. Cut the dough into 12 squares.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment, then place the cut biscuits on the parchment, separated just slightly. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze the biscuits for a couple of hours, or just until solid. Label and date a gallon-sized freezer bag. Place the frozen biscuits in the bag for long term storage (3-4 months).
- To bake the biscuits, place any number of biscuits you want on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Let the biscuits thaw only as long as it takes to preheat the oven to 400ºF. Once the oven is preheated, bake the biscuits until puffed up tall and deep golden brown on top. Depending on your oven and size of the biscuits, it should take about 18-22 minutes (frozen), or 16-20 minutes (fresh).
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Nutrition
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Looking for a savory version of these soft and fluffy biscuits to serve with dinner? Try my Cheddar Drop Biscuits!
How to Make Freezer Biscuits – Step by Step Photos
In a large bowl, combine 2.5 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp sugar, and 4 tsp baking powder. Mix them together really well.
Pour in one pint of heavy whipping cream.
Stir them together until a sticky ball of dough forms. It will likely be fairly wet and sticky, so before turning it out onto your work surface, dust it liberally with flour.
Gently knead the dough just a couple of times to work in just enough flour so that it’s no longer sticky. Press the dough down into a 6×9 rectangle, then fold it over. Repeat that process two more times. Folding the dough into layers like this helps create layers in the final biscuits.
After folding it over a few times, press it down into a 6×9 rectangle one final time. the dough should be about one inch thick. Cut it into 12 square biscuits.
To freeze the biscuits, line a baking sheet with parchment and place the biscuits on top (separated slightly). Cover with plastic and freeze for a couple hours, or just until they’re solid.
Transfer the mostly frozen biscuits to a heavy duty freezer bag for longer storage. As with most frozen items, I like to use them within a few months because food tends to dry out a bit after that… but I don’t suspect these will last that long!
To bake the biscuits, take them out of the freezer and place them back onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Let them thaw only as long as it takes to preheat your oven to 400º. Once fully preheated, bake the biscuits until they’re puffed up and golden brown on top. The total baking time will depend on your oven and the size of the biscuits, but it should take about 18-22 minutes if frozen, or 16-20 minutes if fresh. Just keep an eye on them. :)
Oh my biscuits… (I think that’s going to be my new saying)
Beth! My very first time making biscuits – actually, as a top for your veggie pot pie. So easy and tasty – I can’t wait to make a batch for the freezer as recommended here. Thank you!
These are so freaking easy and just as delicious! I used them for quick b’fast sammies with a muffin tin egg and a half slice of bacon I batched cooked— sooo good and so much better (and less expensive) than fast-food crap or a nutrition bar on the go. One of my favorite of your quick recipes!!
For others thinking of doing the same thing…. I baked one straight after shaping, before freezing (was trying to figure out if mornings would be easier for me if I baked then all and then froze the whole assembled sandwiches, rather than baking a biscuit fresh each morning). For some reason (Beth can maybe explain the baking science?) it didn’t get as fluffy or tall, though it was just as tasty. I baked a couple out of the freezer this a.m. and they were light, tall, fluffy and tasty. Honestly, I thought starting the oven every morning would be a pain, but since they bake basically from frozen, I just plopped them in the warm oven and went about my morning business, getting coffee, checking the weather, etc. and boom! They were done before I knew it… quick re-heat of the egg cup in the microwave, drop it on the FRESH BAKED biscuit, and I was in weekday breakfast heaven. Definitely bake them out of the freezer as you need them. SO worth it for the taste of warm and FRESH out of the oven!
These are dangerous. :-)
Hmmm, that’s interesting! It sounds like the slower cooking (because they were frozen) helped them get fluffy. I would try cooking at a lower temp (maybe 350) from fresh to see if that helps them puff up more. Usually you want a fast blast of high heat when using chemical leaveners, like baking powder, but maybe that was just too much in this case and the outer layer hardened before the inside had an opportunity to rise.
I live in Canada and I’ve never been able to find anything labelled ‘heavy cream’ in my area. Is it the same as whipping cream which is generally about 35%? Google searches on this topic have been inconclusive…
These look delicious by the way!
It’s very close! Heavy cream in the U.S. is usually around 38% butter fat. I bet 35% would still be close enough to work well. Here’s a good article from Thekitchn.com if you want to read up on it more. :)
This would be a great make ahead recipe for Thanksgiving or another typically stressful food day. Thank you so much for sharing!!
My grandmother used heavy cream as well, but she made a lighter version using half heavy cream and half soda water. They were always really tasty and light. I’m going to try your version on the weekend!
Ooooh, great idea! I want to try that.
I had a quart of cream leftover that I needed to use. Really awesome timing on this recipe, Beth :) I made these and they are delicious and so simple! I baked one batch and froze the other. This is a new favorite for us! Also- did you know that you can make biscuits with mayo? They are not as good as these, but they were quick and easy too. Thank you for another delicious recipe! You are awesome.
What! That’s so cool! I’ve never heard of mayo biscuits… now I have to make more biscuits. :)
Do these taste butter-y at all, since they use cream instead of butter?
Not really, but they do taste rich. If that makes sense. ;)
Beth do you think this would work with buttermilk instead of cream? Have the buttermilk on hand.
I don’t think buttermilk has a high enough fat content for it to work quite the same. Also, if you’re using cultured buttermilk, that’s quite acidic so you’d probably want to substitute some of the baking powder for baking soda. (chemistry, yay!)
I’d like to make these with whole wheat flour. What changes (if any) would I have to make to the recipe to do that? Thanks Beth!
I just made these with soft white whole wheat flour and they turned out great!
These look absolutely dreamy!
Yes, I agree to your idea ! That is exactly what I do : replace milk and butter with heavy cream; when making pie crust especially and the result is an amazing and very tasteful crust. keep on rocking !
Can you share your recipe for pie crust that uses whipping cream in place of butter?
I’m not sure if that would work out because of the high moisture content of the cream. It works for biscuits because you usually have to add milk anyway, but with pie crust you usually only want a tablespoon or so of liquid.
How well do these bake up after being frozen? I’ve made freezer biscuits before (who doesn’t love fresh-from-the-oven biscuits?) but they don’t rise well in the oven.
The biscuits in the photos were frozen for one day, and baked directly from the freezer (thawed only for the few minutes it took to reheat the oven) and baked up quite tall and fluffy. :)
We used to call them cream biscuits! you have a light hand with them; they puffed up beautifully.
I cut mine apart with a pizza wheel. Is that what you used?
Never thought of freezing them… oh, what a good idea. Thanks, Beth.
I used a bench scraper, but a pizza wheel is a great idea!
Hello, love your recipes! Probably a silly question but I am from Australia and these aren’t what we would call biscuits, are these like a scone? What do you eat them with?
Our biscuits are a bit different from what we call scones. They are softer and more moist than what a “scone” is here. They are most traditionally served as a side with breakfast, but you could certainly eat them any time of day. Sometimes people just open them up and smear butter on them, sometimes jam. You can make breakfast sandwiches out of them, or smother them with sausage gravy (that’s popular in the south). :)
I’m an Aussie currently living in the US and while there may be some technical difference between a US style biscuit & an Aussie scone I’m damned if I can taste them. I know some people put sugar in their scone mix so if you do that, that’s pretty much the only difference really as there are so many versions of both scones & biscuits out there there is a tonne of overlap. Despite how it sounds sausage gravy & biscuits is pretty damn tasty. They basically cook pork sausage meat loose until all the fat melts out & make a white sauce/gravy with some flour in the fat then add some milk to make a sloppy mix then pour it over the top. Anyway I’ve been serving it over the same recipe I used for years for scones in Australia & my Midwesterner hubby has never noticed, now trying to pass them off on a southerner with them might be a whole other thing.
I LOVE fresh biscuits. Can’t wait to make these!!!! :-)