Raspberry Cream Biscuits

I use to make month long menu plans.  I think I actually liked making them more than following them.  I would often carry a black bag of printed recipes with me when I knew I would be going somewhere where I'd have a little time to glance through them.  In no time my empty month calendar would begin to fill in with the dinners we would be eating that month.  I laugh because even now, there are times when I go to my mom's house to let my kiddies play and I will tote a bag of recipes along with me (not so much to plan, but to read over and let my mouth water a bit). 

Fast forward a few years to today and my current struggle of making even a weekly menu.  Now, planning a weeks’ worth of dinners gives me a bit of anxiety.  Without fail, during the week I will spy something(s) new I want to try or our nightly dinner schedule changes and then my menu plan gets thrown a bit and that bugs me.  I seem to fly by the seat of my pants a bit more these days (which also has its major drawbacks, one being that I make more trips to the grocery store than should ever be allowed in one week).

So while I often am on the hunt for new recipes to try, I also have the tried and true favorites in my back pocket that are both familiar and loved by my little family (like these biscuits).

I first found the recipe for these cream biscuits on the blog Orangette.  They come together quickly (bowl and wooden spoon) and are tender and delicious.  I can't count how many times I've made them and my food spattered biscuit recipe that hangs right inside my kitchen cabinet door along with a few other favorites (Ashley Rodriguez's chocolate chip cookies, flatbread pizza dough, and our favorite whole wheat waffle recipe...just to name a few) proves it.  The original recipe doesn't call for raspberries and most often I make them without, but this morning my raspberry studded, sugar crusted biscuit tasted just perfect and will sure to be repeated over and over again.

Raspberry Cream Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (optional)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/4-1 1/2 cups raspberries
Turbinado or other coarse sugar

Preheat the oven to 425°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.  Whisk together and then add then add the raspberries and gently stir.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cream and seeds from the vanilla bean.  Slowly add 1 1/4 cup cream, stirring gently as you pour in the cream.  Add the additional 1/4 cup cream if the dough feels shaggy and pieces are dry.

Dump the dough onto a work surface and shape into a 1/2 inch thick square.  (If you don't mind the raspberries breaking up a bit or if you aren't using raspberries, you could knead the dough briefly if necessary.  You don't want to overwork the dough.)

Cut into 9 squares (or 12 if you want smaller biscuits).  Place each biscuit on prepared baking sheet and brush generously with melted butter so that all sides of the biscuit are coated.  Sprinkle with coarse sugar and bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Serve hot.

Recipe adapted from Orangette