Cheddar Chive Biscuits

Both sides of my family have roots in Kentucky, so biscuits were just one of those ever-present foods growing up in my house. I first fell in love with them when I was served biscuits slathered in my mom's sausage gravy for breakfast. Since then, I've had a weakness for this southern staple. I love how you can flavor a biscuit with pretty much anything-herbs, black pepper, cheese, cheese, cheese!!-and end up with a fluffy, buttery final product. Charles Schultz of Peanuts fame said "Happiness is a warm puppy." For this foodie, happiness is a warm biscuit!

Following my family's traditions, my biscuits MUST include tangy, thick buttermilk and must be baked in a cast iron pan. If you don't have a cast iron pan, these can be baked on a parchment or silpat lined sheet pan. If you don't have a cast iron pan and want the circular look of biscuits baked in a cast iron pan, a pie tin will do the trick!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and lightly butter a cast iron pan or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and sugar together. Add the COLD, cubed butter. The colder the butter, the flakier and fluffier the biscuit.

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender until the  mixture looks like....

This! The butter is the size of peas and the mixture has a coarse sand texture.

Stir in chives and 5 Tbsp cheese. (If you don't feel like using your knife, it's very easy to snip your chives into small pieces with kitchen scissors.) Make a well in the center of the dry ingredient butter mixture. This ensures even mixing of the dry and wet ingredients.

Pour the buttermilk into the center well in the dry ingredients and mix until the dough comes together. The dough should be slightly sticky. 

Turn the biscuit dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a rectangle 1/2 inch thick. (No need to roll out the dough! Isn't that great??)

Using a lightly floured biscuit cutter, cut the dough, gathering and re-shaping the scraps to get as many biscuits as possible.

Place biscuits in cast iron pan (or on baking sheet) and brush tops with buttermilk. Top with remaining cheese. Bake in oven for 20 minutes until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown. 

 

Serve immediately. This recipe yields 16 biscuits if using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter. 

Cheddar Chive Biscuits

recipe by Sweet & Savory

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1/2 cup chopped chives
1/2 cup cheddar cheese,divided
3/4 cup buttermilk, plus extra for brushing

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly butter a large cast iron pan or line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and sugar until combined. Cut in cold, cubed butter with a pastry blender until butter is the size of peas and mixture resembles coarse sand. Stir in 5 Tbsp cheese and chopped chives.

Make a well in the center of the mixture. Pour in buttermilk and stir until the dough comes together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a rectangle 1/2 inch thick.

Using a lightly floured biscuit cutter, cut as many biscuits as possible, gathering and re-shaping the scraps to cut more biscuits. Place biscuits into cast iron pan or baking sheet. (if you are baking them on a baking sheet, evenly space them leaving 2 inches between each biscuit.) Brush the tops with more buttermilk and top with remaining cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes, until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown.