Friday, January 13, 2012

It's Always Beddar With Cheddar - Cheddar Biscuits

I love biscuits...  Especially in the winter.  They just seem to be the kind of food that hugs you while your eating it.  Whether simple Baking Powder biscuits or Buttermilk Biscuits, Spelt or Whole Wheat they are little fluffy bundles of comfort wrapped in a towel at the table.  Which is another thing I love about fresh biscuits.  When they are swaddled beneath layers of cloth to stay warm, and you have to peel back the layers to reach the heavenly disks of warm fluffy goodness, it's almost like opening a Christmas present.   LOVE it!

Biscuits are, in and of themselves, VERY similar to pie crust...  In fact, the only real difference is the leavening; be it Baking Powder or Baking Soda.  Thus the same rules apply... "ALL THINGS MUST BE COLD"! This means, cold flour, cold butter, and cold milk... or buttermilk.  Follow the same steps as you would making pie crust... Work the butter into the flour, add milk (liquid) and stir until a dough forms... Be careful not to overwork the dough, or the biscuits will be tough.  Roll, cut and bake as fast as you can, and you will be rewarded of light fluffy and oh so delicious biscuits.

Cheddar is my favorite addition to baking powder biscuits.  I like to sneak a little Cayenne into them.  Not much, but just enough to lend some subtle heat and kind of warm you from the inside out.  ;) 

Cheddar Biscuits

9 oz (256 g) (2 cups) AP Flour
1 TB Baking Powder
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper, ground
2 oz (56 g) (4 TB) Unsalted Butter, sliced thin
4 oz (113 g) (1 cup) Sharp Cheddar, shredded
6 oz (175 ml) (3/4 cup) Whole Milk

Preheat the oven to 450 F (230 C) degrees
Whisk the Flour, Baking Powder, Salt and Cayenne together in a bowl.

Add the Butter slices.

Work the butter into the flour with your fingers until the mixture looks kind of like coarse cornmeal.

Add the shredded Cheddar....

Work the Cheddar into the flour as well.

Add the cold Milk.

Stir with a fork until the dough comes together. (it may be a little sticky, but that is OK)

Turn out onto a well floured surface.

Roll to 1/2 inch thick.

Cut 3 inch rounds.

Gather scraps, roll and repeat. (You should end up with 8 - 10 biscuits.)
Place the biscuits on a baking sheet.

Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Swaddle them in a towel to keep them warm.

Consume with copious amounts of butter.

Mangia!!
~~

1 comment:

  1. I used to hate biscuits but I have learned to really like a good biscuit. I should make some soon, I only seem to make them in the summer for hubby to eat with strawberries. I just add sugar and vanilla to my biscuit recipe for that. I would love them with cheddar in them. YUM

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