Cheddar Biscuits

I woke up on Sunday morning and was craving the light buttery taste of cheddar biscuits for breakfast, obviously dripping with butter.

This recipe has been in my repetoire for a very long time. I don't even remember where the recipe came from - was it passed on from a friend? I really have no idea.

I like to use this same recipe on top of chicken pot pie, I just shape the biscuits and put them on top of the pot pie raw, and bake until the biscuits are done. The chicken pot pie is generally bubbling over and hot by that point as well.

They are delicious beside a bowl of steaming soup. I even split and toast them the next day (and the next if there are any left) and smother them in butter for breakfast. Probably not the healthiest choice, but definitely the most delicious choice.

You can make mini versions for crowds to snack on, or bigger versions to make into sandwiches. This recipe is really versatile too, sometimes I will add fresh chopped herbs, or a touch of chilli powder, depends on how I feel.

Enjoy!

Cheddar Biscuits
Makes six 3" round biscuits

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cubed
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter, for brushing

Preheat oven to 450F.

Into the bowl of your food processor place in this order the butter, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Pulse until butter is mixed in. The dry mixture should look like coarse sand with a few lumps.

Transfer mixture to a large bowl and toss through shredded cheese (you can add any herbs or other flavourings here). Using a fork to begin, pour in buttermilk and mix to combine. The mixture should just come together when you squeeze it into a ball. If you need to add more buttermilk, do so, but do it sparingly. If your dough is too wet you will end up with a heavy finished biscuit.

Here's the trick to make them flaky - you want to squash the mixture down into the bottom of the bowl. Then, cut the dough in half down the middle and place one half on top of the other. Squish the dough into the bottom again. Do this two more times to make lots of layers. Your dough should also come together quite nicely at this point.

Place dough onto lightly floured flat surace and roll to 3/4"-1" high. Cut out into desired shape and place onto baking sheet.

Brush tops with melted butter and bake for 15 minutes, or until the tops are nicely browned, and when you lift up the biscuit, the bottom has started to brown as well.

Remove from oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes (if you can!).