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)
I made this recipe vegan, sugar-free, whole grain, and low gluten and it still worked. I grind my own organic flour mix using 3 parts organic Kamut berries and 1 part organic oat berries. I sift it three times so it doesn’t get heavy. I keep a big jar of it stored in the fridge. I used this in place of the all-purpose flour. Used a can of full-fat organic coconut milk and subbed xylitol for the sugar. Even my friends who aren’t vegan loved them. When I take them to a potluck, they are gone quickly. They work for most people’s special diets and are light, fluffy and absolutely delicious.
I used canned coconut milk in place of the heavy cream and subbed Xylitol for the sugar. They were delicious and the easiest biscuits I ever made.
I have tried to make biscuits in the past with no luck until now.
I was kind of surprised that this was a budget bytes recipe when I purchased the heavy whipping cream for $3.70. I thought to myself that for 12 biscuits this isn’t a budget friendly recipe when I can buy the pre made can kind for $2.00. Which i did for back up if i failed at biscuit making again.
I made the biscuits as described and they were the best biscuit I have ever had. Then I went up to Wally World to see what the price of heavy cream was. It was $2.38 per pint. Now for sure this is a budget friendly price for an awesome biscuit.
The only problem now is what can I do with the pre made can of biscuits now? I guess I could give them to someone I don’t like. I will give my friends this recipe
And the heavy cream is even less expensive if you buy a quart! So if you like the biscuits a lot, make a double batch with a quart of cream and just keep them all in the freezer. :)
I have made this recipe twice now and arduously mixed the ingredients. However, I never seem to get the baking soda combined well enough. I’ll be in the middle of enjoying a seemingly delicious biscuit until WHAM! I bite into a pocket of bitter, mouth-drying disappointment. It really is awful. So, since I cannot seem to mix these ingredients correctly, is it possible to sub the baking powder and flour ingredients for self-rising flour? I really want to get these biscuits right!
Yep, you can definitely use self rising flour instead. Baking powder can clump if it’s exposed to humidity, so you may need to crush the clumps or sift it before adding to make sure there aren’t any lumps.
I love these. I’ve made two batches. I substituted splenda for the sugar inside the scone. Worked well. The first batch I added a little extra powdered milk. I think it helped them rise more, but the second batch was great too. Still used powdered sugar for the drizzle, but kept a few un-drizzled.
I noticed your other scone recipes are different. Butter and egg are added instead of heavy cream. Does that make them heavier/denser? Do you think the other scone recipes would work with heavy cream and eggs and eliminating the milk?
Yes, the butter and eggs definitely produces a heavier, more crumbly scone than these cream biscuits. You might be able to substitute the milk and butter in the scone recipes for heavy cream, but you’ll likely need to play around with the ratios a bit. I wouldn’t sub 1:1 heavy cream for the milk as they have different moisture contents.
These are so good! I make them all the time. I’m not sure how far you could push it, but I have successfully swapped half the whipping cream for half & half when I ran out.
hey!
Can i ask you how much ml are there in a pint of whipping cream? (I’m trying it out in a different country and our pint is usually about 200ml
One U.S. liquid pint is about 473 mL (according to Google).
Thank you for this wonderful help. I see the frozen biscuits in store, but won’t buy them.
I paid under $2.00 for a pint of heavy whipping cream. Comes out to about 20 cents per biscuit.
These look great, but I’m out of heavy cream. Can half and half be substituted?
No, unfortunately the high fat content of heavy cream is needed to make the texture of these biscuits work correctly.
A great side for soup Monday. Easy to make, and they taste like more. I’m giving half of them to my daughter and son-in-law for my own safety. I may try some variations, like mixing in some herbs.Thanks for a great recipe!
I’m going to try this. I love biscuits, but if I cook them all, I will eat too many. My family never put sugar in biscuits so I’ll try leaving that out.
Could you substitute self-rising flour and only have two- ingredients- SR flour and cream? I don’t think I’d like the sugar added.
I’ve never done it, but I’ve certainly seen recipes for versions like that, so I bet it would work. :)
I think there’s more baking powder than would be in self rising flour
I just came across this recipe and tried it for the first time the other day. I love it! The love of cooking does not come easily to me, but the step by step instructions and pictures make it so much easier.
Question- Do you think these biscuits could be used for the dumplings in a chicken and dumplings recipe? If not, do you have a freezer-friendly dumpling recipe? We have a baby in the house and it’s easiest to prep several meals ahead of time. Thank you!
If you’re talking about the type of dumpling that is like fluffy biscuits that float on top of the soup (not the kind that are like super thick noodles IN the soup), then maybe yes. I would probably adjust the sugar down a bit, but I think it might work.
I LOVE these biscuits! One substitution I made was using 1 cup cake flour and 1.5 all purpose. I tried it one time when I was short on all purpose flour and found that it made the biscuits a little lighter. My family is obsessed with these!
I’m gluten and dairy free an have been craving biscuits like CRAZY! I swapped the flour with King Arthur Gluten Free flour and used Silk Soy Coffee Creamer for the heavy cream. AMAZING!! Thank you! Glad I halved the recipe because I ate them all in one night. :)
Ooh, I’ve been wondering if this might work with a non-dairy creamer as I have oatmilk creamer at home. Will try this soon!