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Perhaps the Best Biscuits Ever?

by 52 Comments

Herbed Cheese Biscuits

I think so.

It was my first night back in my own kitchen but thanks to jet lag, I was far from ready to put a lot of effort into dinner. I put my husband in charge of grilling some meat and I managed to make a decent-tasting side dish out of some canned beans, frozen vegetables and rice.

But what I really wanted was something warm from the oven, dripping with butter.

I started flipping through my latest cookbook, a gift my cousin brought me from a recent trip to Wisconsin, called Best of the Best from Wisconsin. I would have been satisfied with any of the quick muffins or corn bread recipes I found but I realized we had no eggs. Then I found a variety of quick and easy beer bread recipes that sounded good, but we had no beer.

That’s when I saw it: a recipe for Cheese Drop Biscuits. Quick. Easy. Cheesy. It was exactly what I needed and I had all five ingredients on hand!

Then I started thinking about the Sour Cream, Cheddar and Chive Biscuit recipe that I had been planning on revamping for quite some time. Next thing I knew, the five ingredients had turned into ten, the cheese drop biscuits were now sour cream, herb and and cheese rolled biscuits, and my kitchen smelled so good I’m surprised the neighbors weren’t knocking on my door.

A new Pinch My Salt recipe was born!

Even though the ingredient list doubled in size, these still go together in minutes. In fact, if you aren’t careful, the biscuits will be ready to go before your oven is even finished preheating!

I decided to add a combination of herbs to my biscuits rather than sticking with just chives and this turned out to be a very good idea! Any combination of herbs would work great, I just happened to grab some dried basil and marjoram this time around.

These are some of the most tender and flavorful biscuits I’ve ever tasted. The best part was that they tasted even better the next day! I never like to eat leftover biscuits so this was a wonderful discovery for me. Granted, these are not the healthiest things I’ve ever made–there’s a reason they taste so good! But it’s ok to splurge sometimes, right? You only live once!

  • Herbed Cheese Biscuits
  • 2 C. flour
  • 2 t. baking powder
  • 1/2 t. baking soda
  • 1/2 t. mustard powder
  • 1 T. chopped fresh herbs or 1 t. dried*
  • 4 T. butter
  • 1 C. shredded cheese (whatever kind you prefer)
  • 3/4 C. sour cream
  • 1/4 C. milk
  • 1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  • 2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, mustard powder and herbs.
  • 3. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs and the pieces of butter are the size of peas. Stir in shredded cheese.
  • 4. In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together sour cream and milk. Add sour cream mixture to the dry mixture. Stir until just combined.
  • 5. Turn dough out onto a well-floured counter and knead a few times with floured hands. Pat dough out with your hands to about one-inch thickness. Cut biscuits using a biscuit cutter or cut into desired shapes with a knife.
  • 6. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
  • *You may use any combination of herbs you want. I like to use 1/2 T. fresh chives along with some dried herbs like 1/2 t. basil and 1/2 t. marjoram. The amounts listed are just guidelines. Experiment and have fun!

I still haven’t tried the original recipe from the Wisconsin cookbook but here it is in case you’re curious:

Cheese Drop Biscuits

2 C. flour
2 t. baking powder
4 T. butter
1 C. grated cheese
1 C. milk

Sift flour and baking powder; cut in remaining ingredients. Mix and drop by teaspoonfuls on greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 12 – 15 minutes.

Source: Best of the Best from Wisconsin Cookbook

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Comments

  3. Nicole says

    Curt: I tricked you with the peach photos on Flickr! I took those for fun because I saw the peaches sitting on the counter as I was taking this photo. I LOVE biscuits and gravy but these are pretty good on their own! Deb: Thanks! It seems like I've been throwing a little mustard powder in everything these days! I think it did add a little something special to these biscuits though :-)
    Reply

  4. Deborah says

    I was just looking for some type of roll or biscuit recipe to make with dinner tonight, and nothing was sounding good until I read this!! This is perfect!
    Reply

  9. Ruby Berry says

    Cheese infused biscuits, that's what I'm talking about baby! They look YUMMY! Easy enough and I'm sure I have all the ingredients. Plus, it's cool again here so I can use my oven again! Thanks!
    Reply

  10. Nicole says

    Anh: Thanks! Scones are basically the same as biscuits anyway, just we usually call the savory ones biscuits and the sweet ones scones. Although that isn't always true either :-)

    Ruby: Glad to hear it's cooling down there! It's nice here, too. That 106 degree weather was killing me before I left there!

    Reply

  11. scott says

    You've sold on these biscuits, and that was just the lead in... the recipe just confirmed it... perfect to have on hand for a big (or quick on the go) breakfast! (Or with the chowder I'm having right now!)
    Reply

  14. Terry B says

    Nicole! You're back in the kitchen in a big way. These sound fabulous, better than the original recipe, in fact. I think herbes de Provence would be fabulous in these, by the way.
    Reply

  15. Nicole says

    Scott: You're right, these would be great just about anytime! Lydia: I'm a pretty big fan of anything baked with cheese, too! Kevin: Thanks! Hope you get a chance to try them :-) Terry: Yes, they were definitely better than the original recipe! I think you're right about the herbes de Provence.
    Reply

  16. carmen says

    Have ya'll ever heard of White Lilly Flour? My grandmother made the best buttermilk biscuits I've ever had. A few years ago I started experimenting with biscuit recipes and they never came out nearly as great as hers. My mother told me granny had used White Lily flour. I tried to find it and couldn't in any grocery, wholefoods etc. It is apparently even in Wal Marts in the deep South where I grew up but nowhere west of the Mississippi. I finially found it on line at Chef's. I actually order $100.00 worth at a time to get free shipping. I can't say enough about the difference in it and other flours.
    Reply

  17. Nicole says

    Carmen, Yes, I have heard that using White Lily flour makes all the difference in biscuits. I am from the west coast so I have never actually used it but I do know that White Lily flour has a lower protein content than other 'all-purpose' white flours and that is what makes the difference in tenderness in biscuits, pie crusts and quick breads. I have read that a good substitute if you can't get white lily flour is to mix all-purpose flour with some instant flour (such as Wondra), I think the ratio is 2 parts all-purpose to 1 part instant flour. I don't bother with this because being from California, I'm just not that picky about my biscuits (I'm sure if I knew what "real" biscuits tasted, I would be a convert!). Thanks for letting us know that White Lily flour is available online through Chef's. I love that site!
    Reply

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