Easy Parmesan Biscuits

November arrives with its particular quality of light — lower and more golden, making everything look like it's been edited. I always bake more in November. The oven becomes a comfort, a companion, something that fills the house with warmth from the inside out while the temperatures outside start to remind you winter is serious.

I filmed two videos this week: one on apple cake, one on the basics of making a roux for gravy. The gravy video was more popular in the first 48 hours, which I found genuinely surprising — roux is a pretty technique-heavy topic for my audience. But then I read the comments and understood: people are scared of Thanksgiving gravy. They make it every year and it goes lumpy or thin and they don't know why. I explained why. People were grateful.

Debra texted to tell me that one of the women from the September pilot made black bean soup for her family for the first time last week and her kids ate three bowls each. She sent a picture of the empty pot. I saved that picture. It goes somewhere in me alongside the view counts and the comments, but it goes in a different drawer — the one that holds the most important things.

Thanksgiving is three weeks away. I'm already planning the menu. We're hosting again — Gary's family plus my parents plus a few strays. Somewhere between twenty and twenty-five, depending on who RSVPs. I have a spreadsheet. I started the spreadsheet in September. Gary finds this endearing. The children find it alarming. They're wrong to find it alarming. The spreadsheet is why Thanksgiving works.

With Thanksgiving three weeks out and a spreadsheet already in full effect, I’ve been thinking about which recipes I can trust to work without drama — the ones that don’t require a roux tutorial or a calm-down video in the comments. These Easy Parmesan Biscuits are exactly that kind of recipe: simple enough to make on a busy November weeknight when the oven is already your best companion, and impressive enough to hold their own on a table full of Gary’s family, my parents, and assorted strays. After a week of filming and reading comments from people who just want to feel confident in their own kitchens, it felt right to share something that delivers on that promise without asking too much in return.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes | Total Time: 22 minutes | Servings: 12 biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup whole milk or buttermilk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted (for brushing)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped (optional, for topping)

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and garlic powder until combined.
Cut in butter. Add cold butter cubes to the flour mixture and use a pastry cutter or your fingertips to work the butter in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining.
Add cheese. Stir in the grated Parmesan until evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.
Add milk. Pour in the milk and stir gently with a fork just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix — a shaggy dough is exactly what you want.
Portion biscuits. Drop heaping spoonfuls of dough (about 3 tablespoons each) onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
Bake. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the tops are golden and the edges are set.
Finish and serve. Remove from oven and immediately brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with parsley if using. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Easy Parmesan Biscuits — The Bread That Earns Its Place on a Thanksgiving Spreadsheet