Cheddar and Chive Buttermilk Biscuits

Cheddar and Chive Buttermilk Biscuits

These light and flaky buttermilk biscuits packed with fresh garden chives pockets of oozing melted cheddar cheese are very easy to make and are always welcome with barbeque fare or fried chicken at our house. They also make regular appearances at Sunday brunch as the base for great sausage or bacon breakfast sandwiches.

Makes about 6 large biscuits

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a food processor, blend together

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 4 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Pulse in:

• 1/3 cup very cold salted butter, cut in small cubes

Do not over incorporate the butter into the flour. Similar to making a flaky pastry, small pieces of butter should be visible in the flour. 

Transfer this mixture from the food processor into a large mixing bowl and add:

• 4 tbsp chopped fresh chives
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, diced small

Toss together and make a well in the center. Pour in

• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Working very quickly with a wooden spoon, fold the dry mixture through the buttermilk, only until the flour disappears, then stop immediately. Drop the sticky dough onto a well floured counter top or bread board. Sprinkle the top of the dough with additional flour as well as flouring your hands to handle the dough. After folding it just a few times, I don't even use a rolling pin for these biscuits, the dough is soft enough to pat it out gently with floured hands to a thickness of about 1 & 1/2 inches . Using a large sharp  biscuit cutter cut the biscuits out an place them well spaced out, on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. I recommend aluminum baking sheets because they tolerate the higher oven temperature without burning the bottom of the biscuits. An alternative to using a biscuit cutter is to form the dough into a round and simply cut it in wedges, like a pie.

Bake in the 425 degree F preheated oven for about 10 minutes before lowering the temperature to 375 degrees F and baking for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits are evenly golden brown. Smaller biscuits will need about 5 minutes less in the oven.