Cheddar Biscuits

Simplicity is beautiful.

From all the different types of foods that are available, bread is one of the best examples of simplicity. It has been the symbol of life throughout the ages. There is a reason that the smell of homemade bread makes any home inviting and why so many restaurants serve bread as the start of the meal; as an introduction to something great.

Biscuits are one of the quickest breads to prepare. The buttery, tender and flaky morsels are so satisfying. This recipe from America’s Test Kitchen, is absolutely BRILLIANT. I don’t think it’s possible to have a more simple and foolproof way of making biscuits.

Biscuits are SO easy to make, but you can’t mess with it too much. The issues that most cooks run into when making biscuits is that they don’t know when to leave well enough alone. The secret to flaky and tender biscuits is to have little bits of cold butter distributed throughout the dough that will melt and puff up the biscuits when they bake at a high temperature. If you melt the butter with your warm hands or well-intentioned kneading when mixing up the batter, what you end up with are no flakes, no tenderness, just hard, dense biscuits.

Prepare to be amazed.

Ingredients:

Yields: 12 biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon table salt

3-4 oz. cheddar cheese, grated

1 cup buttermilk (cold)

8 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled, plus 2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing biscuits

1 garlic clove, minced

1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, minced

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Melt 1 stick of butter first and set aside to cool while you are mixing up the rest of the ingredients. (I usually put it in the refrigerator, but you can do that only if you work fast, or the butter will get too cold.)

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a large bowl until all the ingredients are evenly mixed. IMG_0567 (550x367)Add the grated cheese and mix it into the dry ingredients.

You can use other cheese that you like instead of the Cheddar OR in addition to the cheddar, such as Parmesan, Monterey Jack, Colby, etc.

IMG_0569 (550x367)Pour the COLD buttermilk into a medium bowl. Pour in the cooled, melted butter (1 stick or 8 Tablespoons)  into the cold buttermilk and mix it together with a whisk or a fork.IMG_0573 (550x365)

IMG_0576 (550x367)

As soon as the melted butter hits the cold buttermilk, the butter will begin to look curdled. This will give you little clumps of butter that will be mixed in throughout the biscuit batter. This is such a cool trick to having easy, foolproof tender and flaky biscuits. The small clumps of butter will melt as the biscuits bake at a high temperature, creating little pockets in the biscuits. Can we please have a round of applause?! Is this amazing, or WHAT? 

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the buttermilk mixture and mix the batter quickly and gently, just until the batter is moistened and comes together. IMG_0579 (550x358)

IMG_0582 (550x367)

IMG_0584 (550x367)If there are streaks of flour still in the batter that is ok. That’s it. Leave it alone. Don’t over mix the batter.

Spray a 1/4 cup measuring cup with oil and use it to scoop up and portion out the batter. IMG_0587 (550x367)The biscuits will slide right out onto the prepared baking sheet. IMG_0590 (550x367)

IMG_0594 (550x307)Bake the biscuits in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes. IMG_0595 (550x312)While the biscuits are baking, melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter. Add the garlic and the minced parsley to the butter. IMG_0601 (550x367)When the biscuits are baked, brush the biscuits with the garlic-parsley butter. IMG_0604 (550x367)I try to leave the minced garlic in the bottom of the ramekin of melted butter; I like the subtle flavor it gives the biscuits, but I don’t like raw garlic on top of the biscuits.

If you have any biscuits left over, you can reheat them in the oven, the microwave or the toaster and they will taste just as fresh as the day you baked them. I also like making little sandwiches from them to enjoy with tea for breakfast or as a snack. They also taste great with chicken salad.

Cheddar Biscuits
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Miscellaneous
Serves: 12 biscuits
Ingredients
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon table salt
  • 3-4 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1 cup buttermilk (cold)
  • 8 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled, plus 2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing biscuits
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Melt 1 stick of butter first and set aside to cool while you are mixing up the rest of the ingredients. (I usually put it in the refrigerator, but you can do that only if you work fast, or the butter will get too cold.)
  3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a large bowl until all the ingredients are evenly mixed.
  4. Add the grated cheese and mix it into the dry ingredients. You can use other cheese that you like instead of the Cheddar or in addition to the cheddar, such as Parmesan, Monterey Jack, Colby, etc.
  5. Pour the COLD buttermilk into a medium bowl. Pour in the cooled, melted butter into the cold buttermilk and mix it together with a whisk or a fork. As soon as the melted butter hits the cold buttermilk, the butter will begin to look curdled. This will give you little clumps of butter that will be mixed in throughout the biscuit batter.
  6. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the buttermilk mixture and mix the batter quickly and gently, just until the batter is moistened and comes together. If there are streaks of flour still in the batter that is ok. Don't over mix the batter.
  7. Spray a ¼ cup measuring cup with oil and use it to scoop up and portion out the batter. The biscuits will slide right out onto the prepared baking sheet.
  8. Bake the biscuits in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes.
  9. While the biscuits are baking, melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter. Add the garlic and the minced parsley to the butter.
  10. When the biscuits are baked, brush the biscuits with the garlic-parsley butter.

19 Comments

  • Mariya

    Thank you sooo much for posting this recipe, Olya!! I first mixed up just half of all the ingredients since I wasn’t sure how well these will turn out and if my picky husband will eat them but they turned out great!! So as soon as he ate one and said it was good I immediately mixed up another half, lol 🙂 …Even my 18 months old son had a few bites!!! Thanks so much again for the great work you do on this blog, may God bless you!

  • Marina Degler

    100% foolproof !
    I made them few times by now. For personal preference I added more salt , cheese and onion powder. More garlic to the wash. I can’t keep my boys and husband away from them:)
    Right now I am pre making them, freezing and baking when I need , few at the time. Only lowering the oven tempruture .
    Thank you Olga!

  • Laleh

    I’ve been looking for a recipe for years to match up Red Lobsters…. I tell ya! This is much better than… oh well!
    Hey Marina, freezing/baking a few at a time is a great idea. I will try that.

    And… thank you Olga!

  • Marina Degler

    Hi Laleh,
    When I am baking from the freezer I am lowering tempruter to 375. Otherwise bottom overbrowning. But that is my oven.

  • Alena G

    I made these for my family dinner last night- AMAZING!! I always seem to have a hard time with biscuits but these were fail proof.

    Thank you!!

    -Alena

  • Olesya Melnik

    Hi Olga,

    I was wondering can you make the mixture the night before and stick in the fridge and bake in the morning?

    • olgak7

      I wouldn’t recommend it. You can always heat up the biscuits for a few minutes in the oven or in the microwave after they are baked. Since there is baking soda in the batter, it will start reacting as soon as you add it to the batter. The texture of the biscuits will not be as tender and fluffy as they should be.

  • Yuliya

    Thank you so much for this recipe! I tried it for the first time today and it came out great!!My family absolutely loved them!!! I’m glad I read all the comments and the idea of ore making and freezing them is wonderful, since I wouldn’t know what to do with the rest of butter milk!
    Thank you!!

  • Carole Gibki

    Olga, I’m gluten free unfortunately. Could I substitute gluten free 1 to 1 flour for the regular flour. I hope so. Thank you Carole Gibki

    • olgak7

      I have never tested it with gluten free flour, so I am not sure how will it will or will not work. If you try it, I’d love to hear your experience.

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