I am a sucker for biscuits.
Maybe it is my Southern heritage or maybe it’s because biscuits are delicious. Either way, I am always tempted whenever I am out for brunch and there are biscuits on the menu. I say brunch because I think you typically see a biscuit around breakfast time. It has, just now, occurred to me that biscuits are rarely featured at dinner time. I wonder why that is the case? I wouldn’t consider a biscuit to be a generally sweet thing but you often top it with a sweet jelly or jam. The most indulgent of biscuits are used as sandwich ends, filled with some indulgent combination of egg, meat, and cheese. There is also, the hearty brunch item of sausage gravy and biscuits.
Now that I have said all of this I am trying to figure out how to ensure I have biscuits at least weekly. Duh, I guess I could make them! That seems fairly straight forward. The trick of course, biscuits are not always the easiest thing to make.
A food item that is usually only made up of a couple of ingredients can be quite tricky if you aren’t paying attention. I have made biscuits for you all before here and here. I even made the original version of these here. Each recipe is tasty and meets the minimum standard for being a biscuit, I had no complaints obviously. Every time I get ready to make a new recipe I learn something new and ultimately it is that education that helps me to improve my biscuit making over time.
I inherited the base for this recipe from my grandma. I am glad I have the opportunity to make dishes she onetime made but there is always the added challenge of having to make something using the very little information she included on the now weathered index cards inherited. I don’t have the advantage of having watched her make these in person or the chance to call her and ask her what I am doing wrong when the batch turns out wonky. I have to just test and test over and over. Each time trying to tweak it only so much so as not to lose the integrity of the dish. I think I am doing a good job of filling in the margins.
As far as I can tell, there are a few tricks to making a good biscuit.
- Make sure all of your ingredients are fresh. The science of baking really depends on having fresh ingredients, if the baking soda or powder seem old don’t use them. Make sure you have the freshest product when baking biscuits or anything really!
- Don’t try to make a low-fat version until you have made the full fat version. I tried to use low-fat sour cream and milk and I learned pretty quickly that you don’t know where to make edits until you have tried to original as intended.
- Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, overwork the dough. Biscuits don’t want to be fussed with. Give them a little loving just to make sure everything is evenly mixed and roll them out to get a consistent height but don’t over fold or over mix.
- Don’t roll them too thin. Biscuits need room to breathe and grow and if you roll them too thin is basically the same as over-mixing or over handling the dough (see above).
- Do brush them with butter before baking. Don’t argue, just do it.
I think these biscuits can truly transcend the breakfast/brunch barrier. I encourage you to try them as a nice compliment to your dinner or lunch. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2Tbs. Baking Powder
- 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
- 2 Tsp. Salt
- 1 Tsp. White Pepper
- 2 Cups Sour Cream
- 1/2 Cup Milk
- 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 2 Tbs. Chopped Chives
- 2 Tbs. Butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425.
- In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper.
- Form a well in center of the bowl by pushing the flour towards the sides.
- Add the sour cream, milk, cheese, and chives to the well.
- Using a wooden spoon gently fold everything together.
- Continue to mix until dough starts to form and is easily handled.
- Roll dough out onto a lightly floured cutting board.
- Gently shape dough into a circle or oval shape and cut in half.
- Working with one half at a time, roll out using a rolling pin to 1/2 – 1 inch thickness.
- Using a 3 1/16 inch biscuit cutter cut out rounds of dough.
- Repeat rolling and cutting process with second half of dough.
- Gently combine scraps to try and cut additional biscuits but make sure not to over mix the dough.
- Place biscuits on baking sheet. Melt butter in the microwave.
- Brush the tops of each biscuit with butter.
- Bake in the oven 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Depending on your oven you may want to rotate the baking sheet half way through baking to ensure even cooking.
