Ina Garten's Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

 

 

I think I have a favorite new biscuit recipe!  I made these yesterday to take to a friend's place for dinner and they were a resounding success!  

I had been watching Ina Garten on the television the other day and she was showing this guy how to make breakfast. She made were these fabulous sounding buttermilk cheddar biscuits to go along with scrambled eggs.

 

I was invited out for dinner yesterday and I thought they would be a great thing to bring.  I am so pleased that I made them because they are the best cheese biscuits ever!

I knew they would be because one  . . .  Ina Garten  . . .  and two  . . .  cheese . . .  and three biscuits.  I couldn't go wrong! 

 

Not only are the best cheese biscuits ever but they ended up being the easiest biscuits I ever made!  She put them all together in her stand mixer, a process which really intrigued me.

I just had to make them!

 

My friend Diana has sent me a few cookbooks that she wasn't using last year before Christmas. One of them was Barefoot Contessa back to basics.  I found the recipe in there and adapted it use both normal and British measurements.

I like to do that, and to be honest, I always use the weight method of baking now. I got used to it when I was in the UK and you don't get much more accurate than weighing things out. A gram is a gram is a gram. Cups however, are not always exactly the same.

 

Another thing I really liked about the recipe was that there is no waste, and no cutting and remixing the scraps to cut out more.  You simply just pat the whole thing out to a large rectangle and then cut it into smaller rectangles.

I have always tried to get as many biscuits as I can from the first cut when it comes to making biscuits.  The recuts are never quite as tender or the same as the first cuts.  There are no recuts with this recipe so every biscuit was perfect! 

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE BUTTERMILK CHEDDAR BISCUITS

Simple ingredients put together in a really scrumptious way!

• 2 1/2 cups (350g) (approximately) plain all purpose flour
• 1 TBS baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup (180g) cold butter, diced
• 1/2 cup (120ml) cold buttermilk, shaken
• 1 cold extra large egg (I used two small)
• 1 cup (120g) grated extra strong cheddar cheese

You will also need: (all optional)

• 1 egg beaten with 1 TBS water
• additional grated cheese to sprinkle on top
• flaked sea salt to sprinkle

 

 

You will note that the butter, eggs and buttermilk are all cold for this recipe. You also need to shake the buttermilk to make sure it hasn't separated.  If your butter, eggs and milk are all cold you will have the best results.

I grate my own cheddar for this and used a lovely sharp farmhouse cheddar. Mine happened to be orange colored, but a white would work just as well. I really love the flavor of sharp cheddar.  Rich and crumbly. I use the large holes on my box grater. 

 

I was actually a bit surprised that there was no baking soda in the mix. I had always been taught that you need a bit of baking soda to react with acidic ingredients.  This was probably counteracted in this recipe by the use of 1 full TBS of baking powder.

That is not a misprint. You actually will be using 1 TBS of baking powder. I was a bit concerned that using so much would make them taste overly chemically, but you could not taste the baking powder in the least. 

Actually most biscuit recipes call for 4 tsp of baking powder and that is not far off from being a TBS anyways.

 

HOW TO MAKE BUTTERMILK CHEDDAR BISCUITS

This really was one of the easiest biscuit recipes I have ever made, I kid you not! You do need a good stand mixer, but I suppose you could also make them by hand if you don't have a stand mixer.

I love my kitchen aid stand mixer. I was so blessed to have been given it by a friend when I first moved back to Canada. I was blessed many times over by a great many people during that time and I hope that none of them ever think I took any of it for granted.

 

Preheat the oven to 425*F/220*C/ gas mark 7. Line a baking sheet with some baking paper. Set aside.

Measure the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Give it a brief whir on low. Add the butter and mix on low until the butter is the size of peas. (Its like magic)

Beat the buttermilk and egg together with a fork. With the mixer still on low, add the buttermilk to the flour/butter mixture and mix only until just moistened.

Mix about 1 TBS of flour with the grated cheese. With the mixer still on low add the cheese to the dough, mixing only until roughly combined.

 

Tip out onto a well floured board and knead gently to bring together about six times. Pat out into a 5 by 10 inch rectangle which is about 1 inch thick.

Using a sharp knife cut the dough into 8 biscuits, making 1 cup lengthwise and 4 crosswise. Place the rectangles onto the baking sheet leaving plenty of space between.

Brush the tops of the biscuits with some egg wash, taking care not to let any drip down the sides. Sprinkle each with a bit of cheese and some flakes of salt if using.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until well risen, golden brown and cooked through.

Serve hot or warm.  We actually enjoyed them at room temperature about six hours after I baked them and they were gorgeous!

 

We actually enjoyed these with some cold cuts, potato salad, coleslaw, as well as sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.  There was nothing left.  These were gobbled up! 

I did not put flaked salt on the top of them as I felt that the cheese was salty enough. I also didn't use her full amount of salt because my butter was salted butter. If you are using unsalted butter you might want to add an additional 1/2 tsp.

 

If you are  fan of biscuits there is no shortage of biscuit recipes on here. Baking powder biscuits are one of my favorite things to make and to eat!  Here are a few samples of what you will find:

MILE HIGH GREEK YOGURT BISCUITS -  Another square biscuit with no waste. These are nice and tall and flaky!  A real favorite! 

QUICK AND EASY BUTTERMILK BISCUITS FOR TWO - A small batch recipe for the small family. Delicious and flaky and lacking nothing in the least as compared to their full batch counterpart! 

BLUEBERRY BUTTERSWIM BISCUITS - rich and buttery with a beautiful crumb. These are filled with lovely sweet pockets of blueberry! 

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

Yield: 8

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 35 Min

These are light, flaky, rich and delicious! Just what you would expect from Ina Garten. They go together quickly using a stand mixer and there is no waste.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups (350g) (approximately) plain all purpose flour
• 1 TBS baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup (180g) cold butter, diced
• 1/2 cup (120ml) cold buttermilk, shaken
• 1 cold extra large egg (I used two small)
• 1 cup (120g) grated extra strong cheddar cheese

You will also need: (all optional)

• 1 egg beaten with 1 TBS water
• additional grated cheese to sprinkle on top
• flaked sea salt to sprinkle

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425*F/220*C/ gas mark 7. Line a baking sheet with some baking paper. Set aside.
2. Measure the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Give it a brief whir on low. Add the butter and mix on low until the butter is the size of peas.
3. Beat the buttermilk and egg together with a fork.
4. With the mixer still on low, add the buttermilk to the flour/butter mixture and mix only until just moistened.
5. Mix about 1 TBS of flour with the grated cheese. With the mixer still on low add the cheese to the dough, mixing only until roughly combined.
6. Tip out onto a well floured board and knead gently to bring together about six times. Pat out into a 5 by 10 inch rectangle which is about 1 inch thick.
7. Using a sharp knife cut the dough into 8 biscuits, making 1 cup lengthwise and 4 crosswise. Place the rectangles onto the baking sheet leaving plenty of space between.
8. Brush the tops of the biscuits with some egg wash, taking care not to let any drip down the sides. Sprinkle each with a bit of cheese and some flakes of salt if using.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until well risen, golden brown and cooked through.
10. Serve hot or warm.

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