By Elizabeth Stark
Biscuits are a classic comfort food, and as we all know, fresh homemade biscuits cannot be beat. I love them, but always shy away from making them from scratch because they seem time consuming. This weekend, my craving got the better of me and I made a batch. I was surprised at how easy these were to put together, and, no rolling needed!
This recipe uses fresh buttermilk, cheddar cheese and garlic chives, which make for flaky, light, and savory biscuits. Spring in New York means that many types of onions and garlic are available from local farmers. Garlic chives are surprisingly mild, and give the biscuits a little kick. If you can’t track these down, go ahead and sub in onion chives or scallions. While I used cheddar, feel free to sub in any kind of cheese you like.
Cheddar Cheese and Chive Biscuits (adapted from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook)
makes eight 3″ biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup garlic chives, minced
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Sift the flours and combine with the baking powder, sugar, and salt in the bowl of your food processor. Pulsing just until combined, cut in the cold butter. Dump the flour and butter mixture into a large mixing bowl. Fold in the buttermilk, cheese, and chives, mixing just until the mixture sticks together.
- Place the dough on a large floured board. Gather the dough into a 6 x 10″ rectangle that’s 1″ thick. Pat and press the dough into the desired shape. For flakier, layered biscuits, fold the dough into thirds by folding one third into the center, and then the other third. Then press the dough back down into a rectangle. Repeat three times. Using a 2 or 3″ biscuit cutter or a glass, cut your biscuits, place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 12 – 15 minutes, until the biscuits just begin take on a golden color.
- Remove from oven and serve immediately, preferably with a big pat of butter.
