Cheddar Biscuits with Chives and Bacon

Square shot of cheddar biscuits on a breakfast table

5 from 6 votes

Cheddar Biscuits with Chives and Bacon

Light and fluffy cheddar biscuits rise a mile high, and have many layers studded with bacon and chives. Perfect for breakfast or supper!

Course Breakfast, Side Dish

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword Biscuits with cheese, cheddar biscuits

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Chilling Time 20

Total Time 50

Servings - 10 biscuits

Calories 284kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

Equipment

10-inch cast iron skillet

Ingredients

½ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
¼ cup diced cooked bacon
2 ½ cups self-rising flour, plus 1 tablespoon, divided (I prefer White Lily brand)
½ cup (1 stick) very cold salted butter
1 cup very cold whole buttermilk, well shaken, plus more as needed
1-2 tablespoons melted salted butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 475°F.
In a small bowl, toss together cheese, chives, and bacon with 1 tablespoon of flour. Cover and transfer to the refrigerator.
Place remaining 2 ½ cups flour in a large mixing bowl. Using the larger holes on a box grater, grate the stick of butter into the flour. Use your fingers to coat all of the butter with flour, and then work the butter into the flour with your finger tips for about 2 minutes. Chill in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the buttermilk, and stir with a wooden spoon (or with your hands) just until a shaggy dough comes together. Gently fold in the cheese, chive, and bacon mixture. Add a very small amount of extra buttermilk, if necessary, to bring the dough together (it should still be a bit crumbly -- not too wet). The dough will continue to come together on the countertop.
Turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface. Fold the dough over onto itself 6-8 times, just until it comes together. Pat the dough into a rectangle that’s about ¾ inch thick.
Use a 2 ¼-inch round biscuit cutter to punch out the biscuits (do not twist the cutter). Arrange the biscuits with sides touching in a 10-inch cast iron skillet, in a round cake pan, or on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Re-roll the scraps and cut out additional biscuits until all the dough is used.
If time allows, place the biscuits back in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to chill again before baking.
Bake for 13-18 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush the hot biscuits with the melted butter. Serve warm.

Notes

Keep the butter very cold. It doesn’t need to be frozen before grating, since I find that frozen butter is much harder to work with. Just a really firm, chilled stick works perfectly.
Properly measure the flour. Always spoon and level the flour — do not scoop it out of the package. Incorrectly measuring the flour packs it too tightly into the measuring cup and results in dense, dry biscuits.
Keep the dough cold. I’ll say it again — the key to tall, fluffy, and flaky biscuits is cold ingredients. Don’t forget to chill the dough in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before baking.
Arrange the Biscuits with Sides Touching. Place the biscuits on the baking sheet so that they’re all touching their neighbors. This will help them “climb” in the oven so that you get that great, high rise.
Don’t twist the round cutter. Firmly press the cutter down into the dough, and then pull it straight back out. Twisting the biscuit cutter seals off the edges of the biscuits and they therefore will not rise as high.
Brush with melted butter. A quick swipe of melted butter adds a ton of rich flavor and buttery taste to the warm biscuits.
To make these taste similar to Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits, add about ½ teaspoon of garlic powder to the dough. You might also like to sprinkle dried parsley flakes on the biscuits after brushing them with melted butter at the very end. Here's my recipe for Cheddar Bay Biscuits.
If you don’t have buttermilk or self-rising flour on hand, see my notes above to make your own buttermilk and your own self-rising flour at home.
Grating the butter into the flour is easier, in my opinion, than using a pastry cutter, pastry blender, or food processor to cut or pulse the cold butter into the flour. Any method will work, though, so pick whichever works best for you. Ultimately, you should see small pea-size pieces of butter throughout the flour that resemble coarse crumbs.
Stir in diced pimentos for “pimento cheese” biscuits.
Add more herbs, such as thyme or rosemary.
Use a bench scraper or knife to cut the dough into squares instead of rounds.

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