Corn Biscuits with Savory Herb Streusel

5.0

(2)

2 Reviews

2021 Food & Wine Best New Chef Thessa Diadem's streusel-topped corn biscuits star a trio of corn — cornmeal for texture, creamed corn for moisture, and freeze-dried sweet corn for its intense flavor. "Freeze-dried corn works better than fresh corn, which has too much moisture." Diadem says. The labneh in the recipe mimics full-fat buttermilk and provides acid that helps the biscuits rise.

Food & Wine Editors

Updated on July 20, 2023

Tested by

Food & Wine Test Kitchen

Corn Biscuits with Savory Herb Streusel — Photo: Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Torie Cox

Active Time:

35 mins

Total Time:

2 hrs

Yield:

10 to 12 biscuits

Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

Savory Herb Streusel

6 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated (about 2 2/3 cups)
1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour (such as White Lily) (about 5 3/4 ounces)
3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh chives
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter (4 ounces), chilled

Biscuits

2 cups freeze-dried sweet corn (about 2 ounces)
3 cups all-purpose flour (such as White Lily) (about 12 3/4 ounces), plus more for dusting
⅓ cup fine yellow cornmeal (about 1 5/8 ounces), plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¾ cup unsalted butter (6 ounces), chilled
1 ¼ cups canned cream-style corn
¾ cup labneh (about 6 ounces)

Directions

Make the savory herb streusel:

Stir together Parmigiano-Reggiano, flour, chives, parsley, thyme, onion powder, pepper, and salt in a medium bowl. Grate butter using large holes of a box grater into flour mixture. Using your fingertips, work in butter until mixture is crumbly and begins to clump together. Cover and chill streusel while preparing biscuit dough.

Make the biscuits:

Preheat oven to 425°F with racks in upper third and lower third positions. Working in batches, grind freeze-dried corn in a high-powered blender or spice grinder until finely ground and powdery, about 30 seconds. Stir together freeze-dried corn powder, flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Grate butter using large holes of a box grater into flour mixture. Toss to coat butter in flour mixture. Freeze until butter is hard, at least 1 hour.
Stir together creamed corn and labneh in a medium bowl. Add to biscuit mixture. Working quickly so that butter remains frozen, stir dough in bowl, ensuring all dry ingredients are well incorporated, folding mixture together until dough forms a ball.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and cornmeal. Turn dough out onto prepared surface. Using a lightly-floured rolling pin, roll dough into a 1 1/4-inch-thick rectangle (about 9 x 6 inches). Using a 2 1/2-inch round cutter, cut dough into rounds, re-rolling scraps until all dough has been cut. Arrange dough rounds at least 2 inches apart on prepared pans.
Top each dough round with about 1/3 cup savory herb streusel, using biscuit cutter to help pile streusel as high as possible. Bake in preheated oven until biscuits are golden brown, 16 to 20 minutes, rotating pans between top and bottom racks halfway through bake time. Let biscuits cool on pans 5 minutes.