Biscuit Time: Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls Recipe for Serious Eats

What happens when you combine biscuits with cinnamon rolls?

A few things, as I discovered when I recently came across something called the Biscuit Cinnamon Roll at the Denver Biscuit Company. On a technical level, the combination yields a biscuity, dense and substantial roll with a deliciously crisped edge and gooey, sweet interior. But if you want to get poetic about it (and you just might), by melding these two twin titans of carbohydrate awesomeness, you've got a decadently delicious and addictive tour de force that just might change the way you look at morning sweets forever.

Here's my homemade re-creation of this Denver delicacy.

Note: The biscuit portion of the recipe is adapted from The New York Times.

Find the full entry and recipe on Serious Eats!

Biscuit Time: Skillet Diner, Seattle WA

It is possible that a new word needs to be invented for the level of happiness that is to be attained by eating a biscuit at the newly-opened Skillet Diner in Seattle.

Skillet Street Food gained a following tooling around town as a mobile fancy food truck, with its bacon jam, poutine, and epic burgers gaining an almost cult-like following.

But I am telling you, you must eat the biscuits. Recently I hit up the brick-and-mortar location with my friend Nicole, and ate some savory food (it was very good) to warm up for the carb-fest.

And what a carb-fest it was. This biscuit was all things at once: flaky, buttery, dense, light, sweet, salty, and oh, so good. Oh dearie me, what was in it? I'm not smart enough to guess ingredients, so I have no idea, but it had something that made it different (lard?). It had flecks of brown sugar. It had nubbly little bits on the craggy exterior, making for a perfect outer crunch. It was like a biscuit party in my mouth. 

A happy biscuit moment indeed, and they serve them with homemade jam to boot.

Skillet Diner, 1400 E. Union, Seattle. Online here.

Biscuit Time: Peels, NYC

Photo: Peels NYCIt's always biscuit time in this spy's eyes.

But even so, biscuit time is more satisfying at some locales than others, and my most recent sweet spot is Peels in NYC.

Tipped off to this awesome from Serious Eats staffers Erin and Leandra, I knew that I had to visit after hearing tales of their dense and delicious buttermilk specimen.

And happily, it lived up to the hype.

As promised , the biscuits were substantial yet flaky, and completely buttery and heavenly.

Not sweet themselves, they can be dressed up in whatever way you'd like, going savory (creamed collards, eggs, and ham, anyone?) or sweet, with a simple coating of preserves and butter.

And I daresay that this is the type of carbohydrate versatility that we could all use in our lives.

Peels, 325 Bowery, NYC. Online here.

Biscuit Time: Butter and Jam Biscuits from Oddfellows, Seattle

It's a documented fact that if you talk to me for more than, say, 10 minutes, I will start talking about my deep love for biscuits. Buttery, flaky, fluffy, did I say buttery, biscuits.

Happily, in Seattle, there are some gorgeous specimens. But my current obsession? The jam-and-butter-filled version from Oddfellows Cafe in Capitol Hill (beloved by The New York Times, and, happily, just up the street from my store!).

These biscuits have a perfect texture, with a dense, flaky, buttery consistency, and a nice crunchy crust on top.

But what takes them from great to awesome overload is the fact that they serve them sliced in half, with about a fourth of a stick of butter and a thick spoonful of jam waiting like a sweet and rich secret inside of those carbohydratey halves.

Bonus: these freeze quite well, so if you pick up several, you can freeze them and then reheat at 350 degrees in your oven until warm.

Also excellent: a rotating selection of savory biscuits, including bacon-cheddar. 

Biscuits from Oddfellows Cafe, 1525 10th Ave., Seattle; online here.

Biscuit Time: Biscuits from Both Ways Cafe, Seattle WA

Basically all reviews will point you to the same summary of Both Ways Cafe: breakfast good, lunch meh. But whatever you do, you must order the biscuits.

I don't have to be told twice to order biscuits.

At Both Ways, they serve tall, flaky biscuits which are crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. The overall size is generous, but not intimidating, as an accompaniment to breakfast. As a minor pet peeve, the biscuit was served at room temperature with chilled butter (if I am allowed to nitpick for a moment, if the biscuit is at room temperature, the butter ought to be too, to spread more easily; or, the biscuit ought to be slightly warmed so that the butter will melt). However, if the biscuit is going along with breakfast, this is a minor inconvenience--simply top it with a small bit of hot omelette and the butter melts beautifully. 

But if you want a sweet experience, butter your biscuit and spoon on a dollop of the jam waiting on each table--you'll be rewarded with a simple, but totally sweet, biscuit experience. Aforementioned crispy edge gives way to a soft interior, which is gorgeous with a slather of butter and smear of sweet jam. It is the type of thing that transports you to a simpler time, even if you've never technically known a simpler time, while eating it.

Of course, biscuits like these do go stale quickly, so for the best experience, be sure to go fairly early (or just be slightly more forgiving, the way you would with a croissant eaten after 10am. You totally know what I mean, don't pretend you don't). Of course, the bakery case does boast a bevy of other homemade sweets to sample if the biscuits are all gone.

Biscuits from Both Ways Cafe, 4922 S. Genessee Way, Seattle.

Getting Down to Biscuit: Vegan Jam Biscuits at Watertown Coffee, Seattle

There's nothing like a good biscuit, especially when it's tender, flaky, and extremely buttery.

But wait, what's this? At Watertown Coffee, their biscuits pack a delicious punch, and have the ability to challenge my buttery-biscuit desires, because you see, they're vegan.

On a recent visit the baker mentioned that her biscuits had received high praise--"better than Macrina's" was, I believe, the phrase tossed around--and after that, well, we had to try them.

But as for the superior biscuit, I really can't go down that road, because these are simply two different specimens of biscuit--and both delicious. Where the Macrina jam-filled biscuit is buttery and lightly crumbly, the Watertown biscuit is a little more...almost cookielike, or shortcake-y, and a little less crumbly. It is perfectly paired with a generous dollop of jam, and makes for an exceedingly sweet little morning treat (sizewise, they qualify more as breakfast accompaniment than main dish).

Biscuits from Watertown Coffee, 550 12th Ave., Seattle; online here.

Seeing Red: Cocoa Red Velvet Strawberry Shortcake for Serious Eats

So, today is National Strawberry Shortcake Day. How are you celebrating?

My suggestion? Don your Strawberry Shortcake cartoon character tee from the 1980s, work up an appetite, and make a big batch of Red Velvet Strawberry Shortcake.

The biscuits in this version take a flavor (and, if desired, color) cue from the classic Southern cake, making use of buttermilk, cocoa and red food coloring, which lends a subtle sweetness which works wonderfully with freshly made whipped cream and strawberries, and makes for a very pretty presentation.

Read more--and find the recipe--on Serious Eats!