Cheddar Scallion Biscuits are buttermilk biscuits – as tender and buttery as the original but pushed over the top with the addition of sharp Cheddar cheese and minced fresh scallions.
Like any recipe for buttermilk biscuits, this dough is quick and easy to throw together, particularly if you use a food processor to blend the butter and cheese into the flour. If you prefer, you can use a hand-held pastry cutter, or even your fingers. Regardless, it’s mere minutes until you’ll be smelling the warm, cheesy, onion-y scent of these biscuits wafting from your oven.
The cheese in the dough keeps these Cheddar Scallion Biscuits from baking up quite as high as a classic buttermilk biscuit. But who cares, when what you get in trade is cheesy crusty bits that form on the edges wherever the cheese is exposed to the heat of the oven or the pan.
Biscuit dough must be handled carefully so you don’t overwork it and end up with tough biscuits. When you first add the buttermilk to the flour mixture, it’s going to seem like there isn’t enough liquid; there will be lots of crumbly bits and flour at the bottom of the bowl that won’t be easy to stir in. That’s when you abandon the spoon and get in there with your hands – briefly and gently! Knead the dough a couple of times in the bowl, smushing it down against those dry bits to draw them in. Then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead a couple more times just until the dough comes together. Then gently pat it out and start cutting out the biscuits.
Orange Cheddar gives the biscuits beautiful color. But white Cheddar would be fine, and if you feel like it, go ahead and experiment with another sharp-flavored, semi-hard, smooth melting cheese such as Gruyere. In place of the scallions, try fresh herbs – 1 tablespoon of chives, or 1 teaspoon of stronger woody herbs such as thyme or rosemary.
How will you serve these biscuits? They’re great in a bread basket at any meal where buttermilk biscuits would be welcome – fried chicken comes to mind. I also like them for breakfast, alongside scrambled eggs and bacon, or with an egg and a thick slice of smoked ham tucked inside the biscuit for a superior breakfast sandwich.
Making these ahead and what to do with leftovers:
- To enjoy these Cheddar Scallion Biscuits at their pillowy/flaky best, eat them hot out of the oven. However they can be made earlier in the day, or even the day before: store them in a zip-lock bag, and reheat them in a 300 degree oven (or toaster oven) for 10 minutes or until they’re heated through and the crispy edges are revived. (Avoid the microwave, which will make them soggy.)
- If you want to keep the biscuits longer than one day, freeze them in a freezer-safe zip-lock bag for up to a month.
Cheddar Scallion Biscuits
Ingredients
- ¾ cup cold buttermilk
- ¼ cup finely minced scallions, white part and several inches of green (about 2 large or 4 small scallions)
- 2 cups (8½ ounces or 240 grams) all-purpose flour, plus additional for the board
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or ½ teaspoon Morton’s)
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 6 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter (preferably European-style), cut into ½-inch cubes
- 4 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
Directions
- Step 1 Heat the oven to 375 degrees with a rack in the top third.
- Step 2 Combine the buttermilk and scallions in a small bowl or measuring cup and let the scallions soak in the buttermilk for 5 minutes.
- Step 3 Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine.
- Step 4 Add the butter and pulse the processor just until the butter is starting to break down and get incorporated. Add the cheese and pulse a few more times until the butter is the size of peas. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
- Step 5 Stir in the buttermilk-scallion mixture. The dough will be very thick. After you can’t do any more with the spoon, switch to your hands and gently and quickly knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together in a shaggy ball and most of the dry pieces of flour at the bottom of the bowl get incorporated.
- Step 6 Dump the dough and any remaining floury bits in the bowl onto a lightly floured board knead the dough a few more just until it comes together, and adding just enough flour so the dough doesn’t feel wet. Don’t overwork it! Gently pat it out to 1 inch thick. Cut out the biscuits with a 2½-inch round cutter, pressing straight down and pulling straight up with the cutter (don’t twist it). Arrange the biscuits on a light-colored, un-greased baking sheet, spacing them ½-inch apart. Pat the dough scraps together and keep cutting out biscuits until all the dough is shaped.
- Step 7 Bake the biscuits for 15 minutes, then rotate the baking sheet back to front and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more, until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown, firm and dry. Carefully transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack. Serve hot, or cool completely before storing.
