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Baked golden brown biscuits sprinkled with sea salts on a baking sheet.
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Flaky Cream Cheese Biscuits

This yeasted recipe makes deliciously flaky cream cheese biscuits in 70 minutes (55 minutes of inactive time)
Makes about 45 square biscuits.
22 servings
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Course: Appetizer, bread, Snack
Cuisine: American, Czech, German
Keyword: cream cheese biscuits, easy biscuits, flaky biscuits, flaky cream cheese biscuits, savory biscuits, yeasted biscuits
Servings: 2 biscuits
Author: Hani

Ingredients

Butter/Lard Dough

  • 1 cup good quality all-purpose (King Arthur), bread flour, or a combination of bread and all-purpose 140-143 grams
  • 2/3 cup cream cheese, or laughing cow spreadable cheese 150 grams
  • 7 tbsp butter or lard 100 grams

Yeast Sponge

  • 1 cup warm milk (250ml) 250ml/250grams
  • 3 ½ tsp dry instant yeast
  • pinch of sugar or honey
  • 1 tbsp All-purpose flour

Yeast Dough

  • 2 ¾ cup good quality all-purpose (King Arthur), bread flour, or a combination of bread and all-purpose, plus more for dusting 385-400 grams
  • 3/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp table salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup room temperature sour cream or plain yogurt 85 grams |Greek or a vegan yogurt is fine, drain it if it's too runny, it should be thick|

Toppings

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp water
  • sea salt, pretzel salt, poppy seeds, carraway seeds (optional)

Instructions

Butter/Lard Dough

  • Into a mixing bowl, add flour (1 cup, 143 grams), add room temperature butter or lard (7 tablespoons, 100 grams), and cream cheese (2/3 cup, 150 grams). Blend together with a spatula or a wooden spoon to form a fat dough. Shape into a rectangular disk. Wrap in a food wrap and freeze while you prepare the yeast dough. This dough doesn't need to be rock hard; well-chilled is fine.

Yeast Sponge

  • Into a small bowl, pour warm milk (1 cup, 250ml), add dry yeast (3 teaspoons and 1/2 teaspoon), a pinch of sugar or honey, and flour (1 tablespoon). Whisk and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy and bubbly on the top.
    TIP: Don't use hot liquid, as it will kill the yeast. Milk should be 100F-110F/ 38°C-43°C

Yeast Dough

  • 1. Stand Mixer - pour flour (2 ¾ cups, 385-400 grams), salt (1 teaspoon), ground black pepper (3/4 teaspoon), 1 egg, sour cream (1/3 cup, 85 grams), and yeast sponge. Knead with a hook attachment until the dough comes together, for about 5-7 minutes. This is a soft dough, and it will not form a dough that pulls away from the mixer bowl. Scrape out the dough onto a floured work surface.
    2. By Hand - pour flour (2 ¾cup, 385-400grams), salt (1teaspoon), ground black pepper (3/4 teaspoon), 1 egg, sour cream (1/3 cup, 85 grams), and yeast sponge. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined, dump it out onto a floured work surface, and knead for about 5-10 minutes. Oil or lightly wet your hands with water if the dough is too sticky. It doesn't need to be perfectly smooth.
    TIP: The easiest way to knead by hand is to push the dough away from you with the heel of your palm, then fold it over itself with your fingers, and pull it back. Rotate the dough clockwise and repeat until a ball forms.

Easy Tri-Fold Dough Laminating

  • 1. On a floured work surface, roll out the yeast dough into a rectangle (about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick, with the longer side facing your torso.
    2. Place the fat dough disk in the middle of the rolled-out yeast dough. Flatten it slightly with a rolling pin.
    3. Fold the short ends of the yeast dough over the fat dough, so the ends meet in the middle.
    4. If the yeasted dough is very sticky, dust it with a little bit of flour.
    5. Turn the 'pouch' clockwise, so the exposed ends are facing outward.
    6. Roll it out into a long rectangle.
    7. Fold the right short end of the dough over about 2/3 of the length of the rolled-out dough. And then fold the left short end over the previous fold. You should have a tri-fold pouch.
    8. Turn the tri-fold pouch clockwise so the exposed ends are facing outward.
    9. Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.
    10. Repeat the tri-fold. Turn the pouch clockwise, roll it out. And repeat the tri-fold.
    11. Repeat the tri-fold 4 times.
    12. Focus on maintaining a nice, even rectangle.

Cutting Biscuits

  • After the last tri-fold, turn the rectangular piece of dough over so the seam faces the work surface. If the dough appears too stiff and retracts when being rolled out, cover it with a towel and let it rest for 10-15 minutes; this helps relax the gluten.
    Roll it out to about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into small squares, rectangles, or triangles. Don't re-roll.
    TIP: You can use a pizza wheel to cut the dough.

Proofing

  • Transfer unbaked biscuits onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch between biscuits. Loosely cover with a damp paper towel or greased food wrap, and let rise in a warm and draft-free spot for 45-50 minutes.
    TIP: Let them rise in a warm spot. It will take longer for the biscuits to rise in a cool room.

Toppings

  • Crack an egg into a small dish, add 1 tablespoon of water, and whisk well to combine.
    Once biscuits are proofed, remove the paper towel and brush the tops with an egg wash, avoiding pooling.
    Sprinkle with topping of your choice, if using.

Bake

  • Preheat oven to 350℃F/180°C.
    Bake in the preheated oven at 350°F/180°C for about 10-11 minutes, just until the tops turn lightly tan.
    Allow to cool before serving or freezing.

Notes

  • What kind of flour should I use? - I recommend using good-quality all-purpose flour (for example, King Arthur All-Purpose flour (with 11.7 % protein content), bread flour (12-14% protein content), or a combination of weak all-purpose (10% protein content) and bread flour. Check the nutritional label for details.