Cheddar Bacon Biscuits
It’s Good Friday, and I’ve been thinking all week about doing something really special for the Payaso for Easter dinner. This will be our sixth Easter together, and I wanted to break free from my typical Easter menu. The Payaso’s second love might be ham so that will play the leading role in our dinner. I decided rather than make salted, rosemary rolls to go along with that scrumptious ham, I’d make biscuits. Here’s the deal, I’ve only made biscuits two or three times tops, and I know they can either be amazing or they can be hockey pucks. Luckily, I have the afternoon to experiment different recipes to make sure my biscuits will drop it like their hot. I look through a couple of cookbooks, but the recipes all look very similar, and don’t grab my attention (I also don’t have any buttermilk, and I’m too lazy to go to the store). I turn to the internet and, while there is a plethora of recipes, I’m not sold. Then I remember the cheddar chive biscuits we had at The French Hen Cafe in St. Paul a few weeks ago. “Yes,” I think, “I want to make something similar to those. Maybe add some bacon?”
In total, I try three different recipes until finally settling on a standard biscuit recipe jazzed up with cheddar cheese, bacon and green onion (insert jazz hands here). Here’s the recipe.
Cheddar Bacon Biscuits
Ingredients:
- 1-2 green onions minced
- 3-4 strips of bacon, cooked and cut into very small pieces
- 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 heaping tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), frozen and grated with cheese grater
- 3/4 – 1 cup whole milk
- pinch of salt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Combine green onion, bacon and cheddar cheese into a bowl with 1 tablespoon flour. Set aside.
- Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl.
- Add shredded, frozen butter into flour mixture and combine with hands by squeezing dough together with fingers.
- Add 3/4 cup of milk to dough and combine with hands. The dough should be sticky but easily workable. If too dry, add a tablespoon of milk at a time until dough comes together.
- Combine cheese, bacon and onions into dough. One incorporated, put dough onto a floured board and knead for a minute or two (until the dough comes together).
- Roll out dough into 3/4 – 1″ thickness.
- Cut into biscuits (I used a 2.5″ round biscuit cutter). Note: Do NOT twist dough with the biscuit cutter; simply cut straight down and pull back up (this will allow for nice, flaky biscuits).
- Place rounds on an ungreased baking sheet approximately 1″ apart. Place in freezer for 2-3 minutes to get the butter cold again.
- Bake for about 15 minutes until biscuits are a little golden on the top (pay attention in those last minutes to avoid over baking).
All of the recipes I looked at mentioned either using two forks or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the flour. Who has time for that? Instead, I thought it would be much easier to grate the butter, and it worked out perfectly. Putting the biscuits back into the freezer for a few minutes before they bake ensures that the butter will steam, which creates nice, flaky biscuits. The Payaso was a happy man when he came home, and had a few of these cheddar bacon biscuits before dinner.
Now, a favor. See the subscribe button below? Would you please consider adding your email and following my blog by email? You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram by clicking on the links below. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I really appreciate your support and followship (is that a word!?). By signing up by email or following my social media, you’ll have access to our adventures and recipes for what I cook. Still ahead this weekend is a sweet/spicy glaze for your ham, and a goat cheese tart that will make your belly very happy. I also plan on posting some recipes with ideas on how to use your Easter leftovers. Again, thank you in advance. I greatly appreciate your support.
Buen provecho!