A couple of weeks ago I made a quiche. A quiche full of bacon. Bacon – something I hadn’t eaten in so long it pained me to even remember when I last tasted it.
I may have gone a little bacon-crazy over the course of a two-day period… which I’m definitely not about to apologize for. If it wasn’t for the rekindling of my love for bacon, then these biscuits which are full of the crispy, salty, savory stuff (plus lots of cheddar cheese – YUM) would never have happened.
And that would have been a travesty – these flaky, buttery, pillow-soft biscuits full of crispy bacon bits and plenty of cheddar NEEDED to happen. Also, I needed something to eat with my quiche, so biscuits seemed like a no-brainer 😉
And good news, everyone – they come together quickly and easily, we’re talking about a foolproof recipe here, people. There are a couple of things about this recipe that may stand out to you as interesting, or maybe even a little bit odd, so let me walk you through it.
First, you’ll notice that you grate the butter instead of using a pastry blender to cut cubed butter pieces into the flour until it resembles course crumbs. This is a technique I’ve seen popping up a lot lately in biscuit and scone doughs, and I have to say, I really love it. Just grate a frozen stick of butter and then mix in those grated bits with the flour, and that’s that. You’re done. No risk of over-mixing the butter into the dough, or leaving in pieces that are too big. Grating the butter ensures you’ll get flaky, tender biscuits without placing the dough in danger of being over-handled which is the easiest way of ruining what could have been perfectly good biscuits.
You’ll also notice some folding action before shaping and cutting the biscuits. This is something I like to do with any biscuit or scone dough I work with thanks to a favorite tried-and-true recipe for biscuits from my favorite Food Network Kitchens cookbook. By folding the dough business letter-style, you create extra layers or butter throughout the dough (like a very toned-down version of laminating a dough), which means deliciously flaky biscuits that rise and puff up beautifully in the oven.
This particular recipe also indicates that the biscuits should be baked in a cast-iron skillet instead of a standard baking sheet. This is the baking method used in the original recipe from She Wears Many Hats, and actually results in biscuits that rise better (Amy also notes that a skillet or pan with taller sides results in a better rise). I’m curious about how this technique will work with other biscuit and scone recipes I’ve made before and plan on doing some testing in the near future…
These biscuits were perfect in every way – golden brown, buttery, flakey, and tender with just the right salty bite from the bacon and great flavor from the sharp cheddar. The only thing I can think of that would take these from amazing to over-the-top-amazing is the addition of either some chopped chives or green onions – definitely something I plan on doing next time I make these.
Regardless, they only lasted about a day and a half between my roommates and myself, so next time I think baking a double-recipe will be in order. They’re the ideal accompaniment to your breakfast, lunch, or dinner and make for some great snacking, too. Bake up a batch of these all-meal-appropriate biscuits and be prepared to bake a second batch immediately after because yes, they’re that good!
Cheddar Bacon Biscuits
Makes 9 biscuits
1 stick butter, frozen
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt or sour cream
3/4 cup buttermilk
6 strips of bacon, diced and cooked until crispy
1 1/3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
Against the large holes of a box grater, grate the stick of butter over a bowl or container lined with plastic wrap. Once completely grated, transfer to the freezer until ready to use.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. To this, add the frozen grated butter and gently toss until the butter pieces are all coated in and evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture. Set aside in the freezer.
In a large measuring cup, whisk together the greek yogurt (or sour cream) and the buttermilk until well-mixed. To the butter and flour mixture, add the buttermilk mixture, the bacon pieces, and the cheddar cheese. Using a fork, mix until the dough just comes together – if the dough is too dry and crumbly, add some more buttermilk tablespoon by tablespoon until a cohesive dough just comes together.
Line a large cast-iron skillet with parchment paper and allow to heat up in the oven for about 5 minutes as you shape and cut the biscuits.
Turn the dough out of the bowl and onto a lightly floured work surface. Working quickly (the less you handle any sort of biscuit or scone dough, the better), pat the dough into a large rectangle. Then fold the right-third of the rectangle over, followed by the left-third of the rectangle like you’re folding a business letter. Pat the dough into a square that’s about an inch thick.
Using a sharp and lightly floured knife, cut the square into 9 equally sized biscuits. Remove the cast-iron pan from the oven and position 5 or 6 of the biscuits into the pan and bake for 12 minutes. At this point, brush the biscuits with melted butter and bake an addition 4-6 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown. Transfer the biscuits from the pan to a wire rack or counter top to cool by lifting the parchment paper out of the pan.
While the first batch of biscuits are baking, keep the remaining biscuits cold by storing in the freezer, then bake according to the same instructions described above after lining the cast-iron pan with a fresh sheet of parchment paper.
Serve biscuits warm and store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.
Recipe adapted from She Wears Many Hats’ Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits
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