I thought that I would post one more “Savory Bake” for the Bake-a-Long Topic of the week (we’ll switch to the last topic tomorrow), so here is a photo of my breakfast. The actual baking part of this post are the spectacular Cheddar Chive Buttermilk Biscuits. I have been trying and trying to make the perfect biscuit for a long time — flakey, light and most importantly, easy to make. Turns out, these fit the bill and could be great as a dinner roll with soup, as the basis for a sandwich or in my case the absolute perfect thing for a bacon-egg-and-cheddar muffin for breakfast. These are definitely going to be my go-to from now on. You could also swap out the chives for finely minced scallions or parsley and cheddar can be with gouda. Aaaand, while I’m talking substitutions … don’t have buttermilk? Add a teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to regular milk and let sit for 10 minutes … voila, buttermilk!
Ingredients
1 cup cold buttermilk
8 tablespoons butter, plus one more for brushing
2 cups all-purpose flour more for counter
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely sliced fresh chives, plus extra for garnish, if desired
Directions
Preheat oven to 425F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or silpat.
Measure 1 cup of buttermilk and place the cup in the freezer while prepping other ingredients (you want it to be in the freezer about 10 minutes). Melt butter completely and set aside to cool for a bit.
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in large bowl. Add cheese and chives. Stir to combine. After buttermilk has been chilled in the freezer for 10 minutes, combine it with the melted butter. Stir with a fork until butter forms small clumps or globules. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with a sturdy spatula just until all flour is incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of the bowl. The dough should be stiff and not super wet. If the dough is wet, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring to combine, until dough is fairly stiff.
Generously spread flour over your work surface. Dump biscuit dough from bowl onto prepared work surface and turn to coat all surfaces with flour. Knead on counter 5-6 times. Flip over on work surface to coat with flour then pat into a 6-inch square that is about 1 1/2 inches in height.
Cut as many biscuits as you can with a biscuit cutter (this will depend on what size cutter you use). Place biscuits on the prepared sheet pan. Knead scraps a few times till they hold together, then pat into a small circle and cut more biscuits. Transfer last biscuits to the sheet pan, spacing about 1 1/2 inches apart.
Place in oven and bake until tops are a medium golden brown and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Start checking after about 10 minutes, as sometimes they can get dark quickly. Remove from oven and place tray on cooling rack. Melt remaining tablespoon of butter and brush tops of hot biscuits with melted butter. Sprinkle with more finely sliced fresh chives, and enjoy immediately.
