The chef and the actress—real-life best friends!—believe that party-throwing is “telling a story through food,” says Brie Larson. These cheesy, herb-speckled biscuits, adapted from the pair’s new cookbook Party People, do just that for the Thanksgiving table.
“The Cheddar Bay Biscuits at Red Lobster are, in my humble opinion, the best biscuit,” says Courtney McBroom. “We made them a little fancy.”
“There’s a bunch of Gruyère or you can use cheddar, if it’s grateable, you can use it. And then it gets brushed with extra garlic butter after it comes out of the oven.” The former Milk Bar culinary director adds, “They’re not necessarily like a regular flaky biscuit, they’re more like pillows of fluff, in the best way.”
Courtney McBroom and Brie Larson’s Gruyère Drop Biscuits
1¾ cups (8½ oz.) all-purpose flour
2¼ tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. dried minced onion
1½ tsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. garlic powder
¾ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. baking soda
½ cup (4 oz.) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-in. cubes, plus 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
3 oz. Gruyère cheese, shredded (¾ cup)
1 cup whole buttermilk
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water
Flaky sea salt
1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, minced onion, sugar, garlic powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.
2. Add ½ cup of the cold cubed butter to flour mixture in bowl, and toss together until coated. Using your hands, cut butter into flour mixture until pea-size and crumbly with no big chunks remaining, about 10 minutes. Add Gruyère, and toss to evenly combine. Place bowl in freezer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
3. Remove bowl from freezer; add buttermilk, and stir together until a shaggy dough forms. Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to hydrate the dough.
4. While biscuit dough rests, preheat oven to 425°; line a large baking sheet using parchment paper.
5. Heat garlic and remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over low, stirring occasionally, until butter melts. Continue to cook, stirring often, to infuse the butter with the garlic, 1 to 2 minutes more, being careful not to let garlic brown. Remove from heat, and stir in parsley.
6. With a spoon or a 2-oz. scoop, drop 12 mounds of dough, evenly spaced, onto baking sheet. Place baking sheet, uncovered, in freezer for 5 minutes.
7. Remove baking sheet from freezer. Brush biscuit tops with egg wash, and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Brush with garlic-herb butter, and serve.
Makes: 12
Active time: 35 minutes
Total time: 2 hours
Dining and Cooking