Baking Powder Cheddar Biscuits
What better side dish to go with a cheesy frittata than cheesy biscuits? These cute little biscuits are so easy to throw together and taste just like your grandma used to make – light and flaky! The original recipe is from a Williams Sonoma handout I got at one of their technique classes and I was intrigued when I saw that the title was Classic Baking Powder Biscuits. I like classic recipes. I like to think that this is the way biscuits have been made for hundreds of years and I’m just following in my grandma’s footsteps by making these for dinner. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but it makes me feel good while I’m mixing them up.
I made a slight recipe change by adding cheese to these. I thought it would add a little extra flavor and I was right! These were the perfect accompaniement to our frittata dinner the other night. And I promise, they’re almost as quick as bisquick! Just a few extra steps and you can have homemade biscuits on the table in no time.
As a side note, I mixed these up while the frittata was baking. When the frittata came out of the oven, I just let it rest on the counter while I turned up the oven and put these in. When it came time to eat, the biscuits were hot out of the oven and the frittata was still hot enough to eat on the counter. Perfect!
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*Note: I made these again a couple days ago and they were not quite as well shaped. They were decidedly more rugged looking. I think I prefer them a little messy – makes them look more authentic. |
Baking Powder Cheddar Biscuits
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1⁄2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. fine sea salt
8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1⁄4-inch dice
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2⁄3 cup milk
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450. Lightly butter a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal, making sure the butter stays cold and handling the mixture as little as possible. Stir in the cheese and milk with a spoon just until all the liquid has been absorbed. (Overhandling will make the biscuits tough). With lightly floured hands, work the dough briefly until it barely holds together in a flaky ball.
Drop by heaping spoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes (depending on the size of the biscuits). Serve warm with butter.
Makes 10-12 biscuits.
adapted, slightly, from Williams Sonoma