King Arthur Flour's Never-Fail Biscuits

By EFFcow

From Katharine
My grandmother’s rule: the less handled, the lighter the biscuit

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1/8 teaspoons salt (optional; for a saltier biscuit)
• 3/4 cup heavy or whipping cream

Preparation

Step 1

Heat the oven to 450° F, with a rack in the top third of the oven.
Mix the flour and salt together, then add the cream until smooth and batter-like. If it's not coming together, you can use your hands to lightly knead and press it together in the bowl.
Scoop 1-ounce balls of dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving a couple of inches between them. A tablespoon cookie scoop works. Alternately, pat the dough 3/4 inch thick and cut biscuits with a cutter, if desired. (At this point the biscuits can be frozen and baked straight from the freezer.)
Brush the tops of the biscuits with cream, milk, or water.
Bake the biscuits 10 minutes or so, or until they are light golden brown on top and baked all the way through. Break one open to make sure they're done!
Serve warm or at room temperature; to store, wrap well in plastic wrap and leave at room temperature. To keep them longer, store in the freezer.