Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits

It has been a long 20 years in the breakfast desert for those of us who loved Hardee's Cinnamon N' Raisin Biscuits. First introduced in the 1980s, the raisin-studded biscuits were beloved by loyal fans of the fast-food restaurant. But in 2002, Hardee's axed these adored breakfast breads from their menu, putting to an end what I firmly believe is the greatest breakfast invention since, well, biscuits.

What made these biscuits so special? Each one was buttery as any good biscuit should be, but they were swirled with cinnamon and dotted with juicy, tart raisins. Lastly, the baked biscuit was topped with a sweet, vanilla-y glaze that could better be described as a blanket of sugar, or a sweet hug of sugar, or just pure love.

The biscuits themselves are delicately sweet, so if you wanted a lot of glaze, the way Hardee's did it, go for it. But a light drizzle is more than plenty to get the balance of sweetness and tartness with the buttery, rich biscuit.

Ingredients for Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits

If you were planning to make biscuits for a weekend or holiday breakfast, you can add a few ingredients and make this recipe for cinnamon-raisin biscuits inspired by Hardee's original instead. Here's what you'll need to get started:

• Butter: The colder, the better, so freeze it if you have time.
  
• Self-rising flour: This cuts down on some ingredients and steps.
• Granulated sugar: Add sweetness to the biscuit dough and makes them tender.
• Ground cinnamon: Essential.
• Raisins: Also essential. These are named cinnamon-raisin biscuits after all.
• Whole buttermilk: Also important for the buttermilk to be cold cold cold.
• Egg: You'll need one.
• Water: This is used to create an easy egg wash for the top of the biscuits.
• Powdered sugar: The primary ingredient for the biscuit's glaze.
• Vanilla extract: Adds loads of warm vanilla flavor to the glaze. You could also use vanilla paste. In that case, you might need more buttermilk, but only a little bit.

How To Make Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits

You need not be an experienced biscuit maker to try your hand at this recipe. While there are some classic biscuit-making steps (such as cutting in butter to make the dough), we've outlined the full recipe with images further down the page to make it as easy as possible. Here's just a quick overview:

• Step 1. Prepare the butter: Grate that cold butter on a boxed grater. Keep it frosty in the freezer until time to use.
• Step 2. Make the dough: Combine dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, and sugar) in a bowl, then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or knives until the mixture resembles pebbles. Then add the raisins and buttermilk, stirring until a shaggy dough forms.
• Step 3. Roll out the dough: Lightly flour your work surface, then turn out the biscuit dough. Knead the dough until it comes together, then roll it into a rectangle. Cut the rectangle into fourths, stack the four pieces, and pat the dough back into a rectangle. (This is how the flaky layers are made.)
• Step 4. Cut biscuits: Roll the dough out evenly, then grab a 2 1/2-inch cookie or biscuit butter (or a glass). Cut out 20 biscuits. Stack and pat out dough scraps as needed to get to 20. Put biscuits on a parchment paper-lined tray, then freeze them for 10 minutes.
• Step 5. Add egg wash: Brush the tops of the biscuits with an egg-water wash, then bake about 15 minutes in a 425°F oven. Let cool slightly. (Repeat as needed with other trays of biscuits.)
• Step 6. Make glaze: Combine remaining buttermilk, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract, and drizzle the glaze over warm biscuits.

Tips for the Best Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits

Our Test Kitchen experts shared some advice to make sure your batch of biscuits is the best possible:

• Cold butter is essential. When we suggested freezing your butter and the biscuits before baking, we're not kidding. The cold butter helps make these biscuits fluffy and flaky. Warm butter will melt quickly, leaving the biscuits a little flat and sad.
• Stack, don't fold. Many traditional biscuits create layers by folding dough over and over—and we love that method, too. (Try it in our top-rated Buttermilk Biscuits recipe.) The cut-and-stack technique gets the same flaky results, just with a little less hassle.
• Brush with an egg wash. Before the biscuits are baked, you'll want to give them a quick egg wash topping. This helps the tops look golden brown and shiny. Is it necessary? Not strictly speaking, but does it make these biscuits really, well, shine? Yes, absolutely.

Editorial contributions by Kimberly Holland.