Recipe hack: No-Wait Cheddar Biscuits
A simpler, cheesy biscuit recipe you'll want to make again and again
I've gone through more biscuit recipes than I remember before finding this one that I love. And yet I still have one more tweak to make it easier. A lot of recipes call for cold butter, cubed and mixed with dry ingredients in a machine. Skip all that. Once you’ve found a way to mix it in one bowl, biscuits can become an easy, last-minute addition to dinner or breakfast.
The trick to throwing the dough together quickly is grating the cold butter with a cheese grater. This allows you to immediately fold the dough by hand without a mixing machine, and get it onto the baking tray in minutes.
The original version of this, passed on by chef Kanida Chey, called for the dough to rest for 20 minutes. I tested it with and without resting and it was plenty fluffy without. I also skipped the rolling pin and just used my hands to shape the dough. I think the non-uniform size of biscuits looks nicer. Purists will argue that buttermilk is essential. It’s not. Do you have buttermilk in your fridge? If you do, because you’re regularly making cornbread or biscuit, congratulations, you do not need this recipe. For regular people, whatever milk you have is just fine.
No-Wait Cheddar Biscuits
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cold
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 2 eggs
- Pinch of coarse salt
Preparation
Preheat over the 350F.
In a large mixing bowl, use a box grater to shred butter. Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and mix by hand until butter is pebble-sized. Add milk, cheese and 1 egg. Mix until wet is incorporated into dry.
Spread the dough out on a cutting board, using your hands to push it down to about 1-inch high.
Whisk remaining egg and brush it over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle a pinch of coarse salt over top.
Cut dough into any size you like. Place biscuits on baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake until lightly coloured on top, about 15 minutes.
Yield: Makes about 20 biscuits, depending on size
Corey Mintz is a food columnist for the Globe and Mail and TVO. Find him on Twitter and Instagram @coreymintz.
