Cheddar, Bacon & Chive Biscuits

I am of the strongest opinion that one can never have such a thing as too many biscuit recipes, and by biscuit I am talking North American Biscuits, not English Biscuits, which are cookies and something completely different.

Cheddar, Bacon & Chive Biscuits are fabulously tasty, light, flakey, peppery, stogged with rich strong cheddar and are beautiful served along side of savoury things like soups, stews, salads, etc. 

I will go out on a limb here and tell you they are also kinda nice spread with butter and honey, only because I have done that and they were delicious, but then again, taste is a very individual thing is it not?

I had this huge discussion on my English Kitchen Facebook stage the other day with someone who was quite irate that in an English Kitchen I would be calling Scones Biscuits.  I was calling what I had made Biscuits (The Yogurt ones) because they were Biscuits, NOT Scones!

I, personally, know the difference between a Biscuit and a Scone.  I am well versed in the differences between the two.   I am a trained Chef good golly cheese whiz.  I have had experience living and cooking on both sides of the pond.

Today I will endeavour to enlighten you with what those differences are.  What you do with this knowledge is up to you. 😊 I know, I am preaching to the choir here, but there may be some who don't know and this is for them.

 

When it comes to mixing biscuits and scones, the methods used are pretty much indistinguishable. Both require flour and some leavening usually in the way of baking powder.

Biscuits sometimes also have baking soda in them, especially if they are using buttermilk (such as these tasty ones I am sharing with you today.)  

If you are using something acidic like buttermilk or sour cream, yogurt, etc. you need a bit of soda. The soda reacts with the acid in the liquid to give you plenty of lift.

Both use some sort of fat which helps to create air pockets in them when they are baking which leads to flakiness. 

With biscuits this will be vegetable shortening, lard, and sometimes butter or a combination of those things.  

With scones, it is always butter, and there is always a lot more of it than you would find being used in a biscuit batter.

Biscuits for the most part contain no sugar, although you will find the rare recipe which will include at least some. My mother-in-laws recipe has a TBS of sugar in it. 

Generally speaking a scone recipe will have some sugar in it, maybe even copious amounts.

Biscuits are usually brushed with butter or milk.  Scones usually have an egg wash.  Scones, generally speaking, will also have he addition of eggs in the liquid used. (Not always however.) Are you confused yet?

 

Biscuits are soft and light and flakey in texture and most often will be savoury rather than  sweet. Meant to be eaten  along with soups, or stews, or salads, or filled with things like ham and eggs. Breakfast biscuits are quite popular.  

You will find them filled with bacon, ham or sausage and eggs and cheese at mny fast food places in North America.

Quite often you will see them split and served with sausage gravy ladled over top or creamed fish or chicken.  

There is one exception to this rule and that is in the case of fruit shortcakes, whereupon they will be split and filled with mashed fruit of some kind and icecream or whipped cream.

 

Scones are a bit more crumbly wih a much shorter texture than Biscuits and a lot sweeter. More often than not, they are  served cold and meant to be spread with  butter, jam, conserves, fruit and cream and enjoyed with copious amounts of hot tea. 

Quite often you will find that they contain fruit, either dried or fresh.  And even so they will still be served cold with jam and cream.  As a rule scones are never served hot or even warm.

 

Biscuits can have mix-ins, such as these ones today, but generally speaking the mix ins will be of the savoury variety.  I have never seen a Biscuit with anything sweet added such as dried fruit or even fresh fruit. 

Mix-ins are usually things like bacon, or minced ham, cheese, onions, chives, etc. pretty much always savoury, although there may be some exceptions to the rule I haven't come across! 

 

There are some really strong basic differences between the two as well as a lot of similarities, specifically the main one being in how they are put together/mixed. But even that is not 100% standard some of the time.

Any how, I just wanted to clear the air a bit as to some of the differences between the two things.  This recipe I am sharing with you today is for BISCUITS!  Yay!!

 

And what wonderful biscuits they are.  They are nice and light and flaky and filled with all sorts of lovely savoury moreish bits. 

Crisp smoky bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, herby fresh chives and plenty of garlic and black pepper.  They are moist and light from the use of buttermilk.

 

Instead of the usual shortening or lard, butter is grated into them as the fat.  You will want to freeze it as it is really important that you keep the butter as cold as possible.

Usually fat will be cut into biscuits using a pastry blender or two round bladed knives (as opposed to being rubbed in with a scone.) Today it is grated in and then just stirred in with a knife.

 

All your flour and savoury bits are stirred together and then the butter is dropped in and then you stir in buttermilk.  If you don't have buttermilk, don't worry you can make the equivalent using lemon juice with  full fat milk added to the same amount needed as buttermilk. 

If you mix the two together, you just need to let it sit for about five minutes so that the milk will clabber.  I usually end up having to do this as I have had a very difficult time getting buttermilk lately.

 

Just look at how nice and flaky those biscuits are and how filled with lovely tasty bits.  That cheese, that bacon, the chives.  So yummy! 

They are delicious split and spread with cold butter.  I enjoyed them with a cup of hot soup for a delicious lunch.

  

Oh and in all of my talking about the differences between scones and biscuits I forgot to tell you that this was another small batch recipe. 

You could double it of course if you wished and they will absolutely freeze beautifully if tightly wrapped, for up to three months.  Simply thaw in a microwave on high for about 30 seconds.  Enjoy!

Cheddar, Bacon & Chive Biscuits

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Yield: 8 Biscuits

Author: Marie Rayner

prep time: 15 Mcook time: 15 Mtotal time: 30 M

This is a small batch recipe.  These biscuits are incredibly flaky, tall and nice and buttery.  Filled with lots of sharp cheddar, crisp bacon bits and fresh chives they make an excellent addition to the lunch or supper table!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (280g) plain flour
• 2 tsp  baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder (NOT garlic salt)
• 3 slices of crisp cooked bacon, crumbled into bits
• 60g sharp cheddar cheese grated
• 1 TBS finely chopped chives.
• 3 ounces (85g) frozen butter (6 TBS)
• 7 fluid ounces  (190ml)of buttermilk

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 225*C/425*F/gas mark 7.  Line a baking tray with some baking paper and set aside.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl.  Stir in the cheese, chopped chives, bacon, pepper, garlic powder, and salt.
3. Using the largest holes on a box grater, quickly grate  the butter over top and mix in using a round bladed knife. Stir all together.  Add the buttermilk and mix together. The dough will be somewhat sticky. Don't worry about that.
4. Tip the dough out onto a floured board and knead lightly 3 or 4 times to bring it together.  Pat out to a 1 1/2 inch thick round.
5. Using a 2 1/2 to 3- inch sharp round cutter, stamp out rounds, using a straight up and down motion. Do not twist the cutter.
6. Place spaced apart on the baking sheet.
7. Bake for about 15 minutes until risen and golden brown. Serve warm with plenty of butter for spreading. Delicious!

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