Cheddar Biscuits - Cheesy, Buttery, Garlicky Goodness!

"The secret ingredient is always cheese"

Cheese is one of the best things to have happened to mankind! It’s such an ingenious ingredient, what with all its various textures and flavours. So, my mom on her way back from the UK got me enough varieties of cheese to build up my own fancy cheese platter. Well, being the avid cheese enthusiast that I am, I was in a state of elated bliss!

I do like my cheese soft, crumbly and fresh. I can probably snack on bocconcini like popcorn without an ounce of guilt. HI FIVE to you if you think the same, we can definitely be friends! However among the hard varieties, cheddar and parmesan are my most favourite. I can add parmesan to anything that I eat, ANYTHING!

Getting to the cheese! So there was this block of British Red Leicester lying around in my refrigerator. Its an English cheese (I’m sure you guessed that one already), and very identical to cheddar although more friable in texture. It has this sweet, mellow flavour that gets better as it matures. Just like wine no? No wonder they make such a great pair together! And it has that bright orange hue! On a completely side note, why is orange cheddar also called red cheddar? I’ve always wondered.  If any of you do know, please share it with me. 

I wanted to do something sort of elaborate with this cheese but not spend too much time making it because you know laziness creeps in pretty much all the time :P

Luckily I remember seeing this recipe for cheddar biscuits. I read about it and found out that they are synonymous with a seafood restaurant named Red Lobster. I haven’t been fortuitous enough to try this restaurant since they don’t have an outlet in India. But I’d love to visit it someday. So the cheddar biscuits! They take literally 30 minutes from start to finish, provided you have all your ingredients on hand, most of which are everyone’s pantry staples. I have doubled the recipe because you know more is awesome especially when it contains cheese!  And how much cheese is too much cheese?!

Its basically all ingredients mixed into one bowl. No kneading or anything. And then you just drop small balls of this onto your baking sheet and wait patiently for around 15 minutes. Patience, my friends is not one of my merits. But I did pretty well waiting for these to bake.

After they’re out of the oven, you have to yourself (if you aren’t sharing with anyone that is) the most CRISP ON THE OUTSIDE, TENDER ON THE INSIDE biscuits. They are flaky, buttery, cheesy and oh, that garlic parsley butter brushed on top takes it a notch higher. They are pretty much similar to buttermilk biscuits if you will, but with cheese!  And we all know, cheese > no cheese. If you love cheese, you need to make these right now!

|Serving: 24-26 biscuits|     |Prep Time: 15 mins|    |Cooking Time: 15 mins|

Ingredients:

500 grams All purpose flour

20 grams Baking powder

25 grams Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

2 ½ tsp Garlic powder

1 tsp Cayenne pepper or Paprika

140 grams Butter (cold and cubed)

400 ml Buttermilk (chilled)

200 grams Cheddar Cheese (grated)

For the Garlic Parsley butter:

4 tbsp Butter

2 tsp Parsley (chopped)

½ tsp Garlic powder

Pinch of salt

Method:

Measure out all your ingredients. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degree celsius.

Add all your dry ingredients to a large and wide mixing bowl.

Add the cubed butter (it is essential that the butter is cold or else the biscuits won’t end up being flaky) and using a fork or your fingertips incorporate it into the flour mixture. Do not over work the butter.

Add the grated cheese and mix until just combined ( If you can’t get your hands on cheddar, use any firm cheese, even processed cheese like Kraft will work fine).

Add the chilled buttermilk and stir. Make sure you don’t overmix as we don’t want to work the mixture too much.

Use a large spoon to scoop out medium sized balls of the biscuit mixture onto your baking sheet. I used an ice cream scoop and found it easier as all end up being even sized. Add some more grated cheese on top, this is optional though.

Bake them for 12-15 minutes until golden brown on the outside. While these are baking, melt the butter and add the garlic powder, salt and parsley.

Once the biscuits have baked, immediately brush them with the melted butter mixture (be generous) and serve.

They taste best straight from the oven. However if you are eating them later, you might want to warm them in the microwave for a minute or so. 

Adapted from Home Cooking Adventure