Cheddar & Chive Biscuits

Biscuits!!!!

Cheddar and Chive Biscuits which, for the record, are the best biscuits I’ve ever made.

With all of the food crazes going on these days (cupcakes, macaroons, food trucks that sell everything), why has there not yet been a biscuit craze?

I vote we start one right now with these lovely, cheesy, chive studded little beauties.

Biscuits are easy to make. Learn one recipe then experiment with additions or substitutions to your heart’s content.

Hard to beat a good, buttery biscuit.

Here’s what you need:

Flour, Baking Powder, Salt, Unsalted Butter, Milk, Cheddar Cheese, and Chives.

Click here for a Cheddar & Chive Biscuit Shopping List.

One of the reasons that I think these were so much better than all of my other biscuits is that I used whole milk. 2% would probably be fine, but I would avoid skim…just not enough fat to make things flakey.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Sifting is key to light biscuits. Add 2 cups of flour and 1 Tablespoon of baking powder to a sifter or large strainer.

Add 1 teaspoon salt and sift the dry ingredients together.

There might be a few clumps of baking powder in the bottom of the sifter….just push them on through with your fingers.

Cold butter is also a critical when making good biscuits. Leave the butter in the fridge until you are ready to add it to the bowl.

Cut one stick of unsalted butter lengthwise into fourths and then cut it across into smaller cubes.

Add the butter to the flour and work them together with a pastry blender. You can also use 2 knives to “cut in” the butter, but if you’re serious about biscuits or other baked goods, you should spring for a pastry blender to make your life easier.

Work the butter into the flour until you have very small, pea sized bits of butter in the flour.

If you want good old fashioned butter biscuits, skip the cheddar and chives and you have the basic recipe. However, we’re going to spice things up a bit with 1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh chives…

and 1/2 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese.

Make a well in middle of the dry ingredients and pour in 3/4 cup whole milk.

Stir only a few turns around the bowl until the dough is about halfway mixed.

Then add the cheese and chives and mix until just combined. We are going to knead the dough a bit so don’t be tempted to over stir.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it only 4 to 5 times to bring all of the ingredients smoothly together.

Pat it out into a circle about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick and cut with a round cutter, can, or glass dipped in flour.

Place the dough circles on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. The biscuits will puff up with buttery layers and become golden brown.

Depending on how thick you pat out your dough and how big your cutter is, you should have between 6 and 10 biscuits. One might have disappeared off the baking sheet before the picture above was taken.

Wrap up the biscuits and serve them while they’re still warm from the oven.

Perch one on a bowl of soup for an amazing alternative to regular old bread.

These would also make incredibly good breakfast sandwiches with a slice of Canadian bacon and a fried egg.

Or, eat them right off the pan while they’re still warm like I did.

One of Jim’s colleagues at work keeps suggesting that I get a food truck. Yeah, not going to happen…but I’d consider it if I could have a biscuit truck!

Here’s the recipe.

Cheddar & Chive Biscuits

Make these soon! You’ll be happy that you did.