Cheddar Biscuits

Good Monday morning, dear readers!  I hope you all had a lovely weekend.  We visited family and had a great time showing off EB.

I want to share with you all one of my top 10 recipes of all time.  Well, it may even be in my top 5.

These cheddar biscuits are SO light and fluffy and salty and delicious, you have to give them a try!  They're pretty easy, too, especially if you have a stand mixer.  The key?  Don't over mix the dough.

I think I first made this recipe after seeing Ina Garten make it on the Food Network.  I love that woman.  Yes, she's a bit pretentious ("barefoot" "contessa"?  really?), but she makes some delicious, fresh, wholesome food.  Most of her recipes are spot-on.  I'll list the recipe below, but here's the link to Food Network.  Note the 5 star rating!

What I love about these biscuits is that you can make them ahead of time, and refrigerate or even freeze them individually.  Then, just take out however many you need, and bake them straight from the fridge or freezer.  Fresh biscuits are SO good, but stale biscuits...SO bad.  So, only make as many as you need, and they'll always be fresh!  If I'm only baking one or two, I just use my toaster oven.

They are wonderful for breakfast with eggs and bacon or ham.  Once I made them as hors d'oeuvres, cut them into tiny 1" squares, and sprinkled them with truffle salt.  They were a hit!  With soup, they would make a great accompaniment.

Instead of using a round biscuit cutter, Ina cuts them into big squares with a knife.  You could certainly cut them however you like, but I like the squares.  It's easy and you're not left with all of those little corner pieces. 

My tips:

• I never have buttermilk on hand, so I use the shortcut...add a splash of vinegar to regular milk.
• Grate your cheese fresh...it's so much better than the pre-grated (I use white cheddar, that's why it's not noticeable in the pics.)
• We use a mixture of 1/3 whole wheat to 2/3 all purpose flour around here, and the biscuits still come out great, FYI
• Make sure your butter is very cold.  I usually cut it up, then put it right back in the fridge until the moment I need it.
• Don't over mix!
• Be careful not to roll the dough out too flat.  The recipe only makes 8 biscuits, so keep that in mind when you're rolling the dough out.  The less you manipulate the dough, the fluffier and flakier they'll be. 
• If you're freezing them:  
• go ahead and brush them with egg white and sprinkle with salt before freezing...all you'll have to do is bake
• Set them out on a cookie sheet, and place the whole sheet in the freezer.  Once they're frozen solid, move them to a ziplock bag.  Mark the bag with baking instructions.

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

 Recipe by Ina Garten, courtesy of Food Network
Yield:  8 biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
• 1/2 cup cold buttermilk, shaken
• 1 cold extra-large egg
• 1 cup grated extra-sharp Cheddar
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water or milk
• Maldon sea salt, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place 2 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas.
Combine the buttermilk and egg in a small measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork. With the mixer still on low, quickly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix only until moistened. In a small bowl, mix the Cheddar with small handful of flour and, with the mixer still on low, add the cheese to the dough. Mix only until roughly combined.
Dump out onto a well-floured board and knead lightly about 6 times. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 10 by 5 inches. With a sharp, floured knife, cut the dough lengthwise in half and then across in quarters, making 8 rough rectangles. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with the egg wash, sprinkle with salt, if using, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the biscuits are cooked through. Serve hot or warm.

Enjoy!  Let me know if y'all give this a shot.  I'd love to hear. 

Linking up:  At the Picket Fence,  Serenity Now, and Making Lemonade

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