Cheddar Biscuits | Psalm 85:10

Introduction

Easy Scratch

Cheddar Biscuits

with Four Ingredients

I first began making scratch biscuits after watching this video. I adapted my own tehniques and added cheddar to my main recipe. You can experiment too, and I'll tell you how to always get beautful half-dome biscuits like mine.

TIME Start to Finish

40 mins

DIFFICULTY

New Beginner to Intermediate

Ingredients

The quality of your biscuits is very much related to the quality of your ingredients. I always get the best I can find. Self-Rising Flour is premixed All-Purpose Flour, baking powder, and salt. To each 1 cup of All-Purpose Flour add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Self-Rising Flour*, 2 1/4 Cups
One Stick of Cold Butter, 4 oz (salted or unsalted as you prefer)
Cheddar Cheese, 1 1/4 Cups(mild or sharp as you prefer)
Whole Buttermilk or Milk, 1 to 1 1/4 Cups (I prefer buttermilk over milk, and reduced fat versions are not particularly good in my opinion)

Tbsp - tablespoons, tsp - teaspoons, ml - milliliters or cc, fl oz - fluid ounces, oz - ounces

1 Cup = 8 fl oz = 16 Tbsp = 237 ml
1/2 Cup = 4 fl oz = 8 Tbsp = 118 ml
1/4 Cup = 2 fl oz = 4 Tbsp = 59 ml
1 Tbsp = 3 tsp = 15 ml
1 tsp = 5 ml

Step One Measuring Flour

Step 1. Measure Flour

Add 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour to your bowl
Be careful to get the measuring cup completely full but also not to pack the flour down while using the metal knife to scrape the flour level (it is easy to get too much or not enough, so be as precise as you can)
If you are trying to make double batches, I have had better luck using two bowls instead of one larger bowl because of the way you will need to mix in the buttermilk/milk later

1 Cup = 8 fl oz = 16 Tbsp = 237 ml
1/2 Cup = 4 fl oz = 8 Tbsp = 118 ml
1/4 Cup = 2 fl oz = 4 Tbsp = 59 ml

Step Two Adding Butter

Step 2. Adding Butter

The butter should be left in the refrigerator so it will be cold before you start cutting it (otherwise it ends up being a greasey mess on your fingers)
Slice the stick of butter in half, then slice off thinner slivers as shown
Cut each sliver in half lengthwise, then slice of small sections, and carefully dumping the two pieces into the flour
One sliver at a time, stir all the pieces into the flour so they won't be stuck together in the mix

Step Three Working In Butter

Step 3. Working In Butter

After you get all the pieces of butter from all the slivers in the flour, stir flour with the wooden spoon until everything is evenly mixed
Use the pastry cutter to further incorporate the pieces into the flour
You will know you are finished when you don't see any recognizable pieces as the pastry cutter works them into the flour

Step Four Working In Cheddar

Step 4. Working In The Chedder Cheese

Once the butter is thoroughly mixed in the flour you can add 1 1/4 cheddar cheese
Use the pastry cutter to mix this into the flour until it is evenly distributed
You may wish to explore other optional flavoring ingredients (bacon bits, seasonings, diced lobster, etc) which should be added inow and mixed in with an even consistency

Step Five Working In Buttermilk

Step 5. Adding Buttermilk

Add buttermilk or milk slowly using 1/4 cups at a time
Mix the flour with the buttermilk using the wooden spoon
Slowly the mixture will become more and more doughy
You will probably use four additions of the 1/4 cup buttermilk, but you probably won't use all of the fifth 1/4 cup
You will know that the mixture is right and ready when there is no visible powdery flour

Step Six Scooping The Dough

Step 6. Scooping The Dough

Fill the ice cream scoop with dough
Use the flat knife to pack it into the scoop so that there are will be empty voids in the biscuit
Use the knife to "slice" off the excess dough in the scoop
Properly filled, the biscuit dough in the scoop will be flat

Step Seven Placing The Dough

Step 7. Placing The Dough

Use the lever on the scoop to carefully place the perfectly domed biscuit on the parchment paper covering the cookie sheet
Place biscuits in the corners first the one in the center where the diagonal lines fromm the corners intersect
14 biscuits and sometimes a smaller piece for number 15 is the typical number of biscuits
If you add other things like bacon, etc, you can expect to use perhaps all 5 of the 1/4 buttermilk and get a full batch of 15 biscuits

Step Eight Bakong The Biscuits

Step 8. Baking the Biscuits

Set your oven for 450 degrees
When you get better and more efficient, you can start the oven when you begin adding butter at the beginning
The top rack seems to work better for baking the biscuits
At 1900 feet elevation and in my oven, it takes about 18 minutes, but your time may vary between 17 and 19 minutes (you'll need to see what works for you by watching the biscuits closely)
If you find that your biscuits are doughy in the middle, then they may need to bake a little longer (and be on the upper rack)
Biscuits are absolutely the best eaten shortly out of the oven
Reheating leftover biscuits is best done in a toaster or air fryer oven and mine takes about five minutes, though you'll have to watch that they don't burn