Ingredients
Method
- Prep and heat the oven. Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 400°F (205°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat — this will save you from wrestling with stuck biscuit bottoms later.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper until evenly distributed. This ensures your biscuits rise uniformly instead of developing weird flat spots.
- Cut in the butter. Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter or two forks to work the butter into the flour until you have a coarse, pebbly texture with some pea-sized chunks remaining. These larger pieces create flaky layers when they melt during baking.
- Mix wet ingredients separately. In a separate bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the heavy cream and 2 eggs until smooth. This prevents clumps of unmixed egg white from ending up in your dough.
- Combine wet into dry. Pour the cream mixture over the flour-butter mixture. Stir gently with a fork or spatula just until the dough comes together — it will look shaggy and uneven, which is exactly what you want. Don't overwork it here; undermixed is better than overmixed for biscuits.
- Fold in Parmesan. Gently fold the ¼ cup grated Parmesan into the dough with a spatula until evenly distributed. If your cheese was freshly grated (not from a shaker), this step will give you beautiful pockets of melted cheese throughout each biscuit.
- Divide and shape. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface — just enough to prevent sticking, not so much that you're adding flour back into the dough. Gently pat or press it into a ¾-inch thick rectangle (or circle). Cut into 8 equal pieces using a bench scraper, sharp knife, or biscuit cutter. Don't twist your cutter when pressing down; twisting seals the edges and prevents proper rising.
- Arrange on baking sheet. Place biscuits about an inch apart on your prepared baking sheet. Brush each one lightly with egg wash — this gives you that gorgeous golden-brown top. Sprinkle extra grated Parmesan and a pinch of flaky sea salt over each biscuit before they go in the oven.
- Bake. Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through if your oven runs hot on one side. The biscuits are done when they're deeply golden on top and sound hollow when tapped lightly with a fingertip — like knocking on a wooden cabinet door. Internal temperature should reach about 190°F (88°C) in the center.
- Cool slightly. Let them rest on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes before serving. They'll continue setting during this time, and cutting into them too early lets all that butter escape onto your plate instead of staying inside where it belongs.
Nutrition
Notes
I serve them alongside tomato soup on lazy afternoons, or as a side to chicken pot pie, but honestly they're best warm from the oven with nothing more than salted butter pressed into the top. If you're doing this for company, I'd add a pinch of everything bagel seasoning before baking — it looks fancy and costs pennies.
They keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for two days and reheat beautifully in a 350°F oven for five minutes. Don't skip the egg wash; that golden top makes all the difference when you're trying to convince people these aren't from a box mix.