Life can be a difficult, slippery beast some days. Remember when you were in first grade? Before you even owned a real three-ring binder, and instead just carried your “papers” in a floppy manila folder? Problems at that age were concrete and clearly defined. They weren’t nebulous, sinister clouds in your head. They were numbers 1, 2, and 3 on your math worksheet. Write out the answers, done and done. Maybe you struggled (basic arithmetic can be so taxing when you want to be playing four square at recess), but the task was surmountable.
To be seven again! For your biggest concern to be learning to tie a proper double knot in your shoelaces, or how to con your way into being allowed to buy Lucky Charms instead of Shredded Wheat.
Adult life, while trickier to navigate, has lots of fringe benefits. Wine, for one, and eating chocolate whenever you please. I can buy lipstick when I want it. Make an entire pan of Rice Krispie treats and eat them under a blanket watching inappropriate, unsuitable television.
But for the days when you can’t shoulder all the responsibility of just being, never fear. If you don’t feel that you can be a proper adult today – exercise, brush your teeth, make a civilized dinner of a fist-sized portion of salmon and frugal side of greens – you can make these biscuits.
They’ve got a mere three ingredients! And only three steps! Mix, scoop, and bake. It’s a King Arthur Flour recipe; they call them never-fail biscuits, which is absolutely spot on. If you can stir (god, I hope you can or we DO have problems), then you’ll be able to successfully make these. There’s no cutting in of butter or fastidious shaping of dough. The cream acts as the fat and the liquid for the dough. I’m a little heavy-handed with the salt, but that’s just me. You could dial back the salt, add a tablespoon of sugar, and dust the tops with cinnamon sugar if you wanted a sweet version.
While not a stunner, these biscuits are comforting: soft, doughy, and warm. The perfect antidote to stormy days when you miss your mother and wish to be eight, not twenty-eight.
Never-Fail Biscuits
From King Arthur Flour
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Stir all the ingredients together into a smooth batter. Using a spoon or cookie scoop, drop balls of dough into a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Brush the tops of the biscuits with water. Bake for 10 minutes, or until light golden brown.
Let cool slightly on the baking sheet. Eat while hot with butter!