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This garlicky cheese-filled homemade biscuit approach borrowed from Gordon Ramsay turns basic components into mouthwatering savory snacks that complement any dining occasion. The blend of strong cheddar with garlic delivers that dining-out taste straight in your own cooking space, featuring a soft middle and beautifully browned exterior.
I whipped these biscuits up during a family meal when I needed something to go with our soup. Everyone clapped right away after tasting them, and they've now turned into our weekly Sunday tradition that the whole family can't wait for.
What You'll Need
- All-purpose flour: Gives just the right base while keeping everything soft
- Baking powder and baking soda: Team up to make your biscuits tall and airy
- Cold butter: Makes those yummy flaky bits when it melts during baking
- Buttermilk: Adds a nice zing and gets the rising agents working
- Honey: Cuts through the savory stuff with a tiny bit of sweetness
- Sharp cheddar cheese: Creates little spots of gooey delight throughout
- Garlic powder: Mixes tasty flavor right into the dough
How to Make Delicious Biscuits
- Get Ready:
- Turn your oven up to 220°C and pull everything together. Keep all your stuff cold for the best biscuits, so measure what you need early and stick the butter back in the fridge until you're about to use it.
- Combine Dry Stuff:
- Put flour, baking powder, baking soda, garlic powder, and salt in a big bowl. Mix them up good so all the rising stuff gets spread out in the flour.
- Add Your Butter:
- Drop the cold butter cubes into your dry mix. Work fast with a cutter or your fingers to break it into tiny bits. You want it looking like rough sand with little butter chunks still showing.
- Mix In Cheese:
- Toss in your grated cheddar, making sure it gets all through the flour mix. Try to grate it fresh yourself instead of buying pre-shredded since it melts way better.
- Make Your Dough:
- Push a hole in the middle of your mix and pour in 240ml cold buttermilk and the honey. Stir it gently with a fork just until it comes together. It'll look a bit messy but should stick when you press it.
- Stack Your Layers:
- Dump the dough on a lightly floured counter and pat it into a flat rectangle about 3/4-inch thick. Fold it like a letter in thirds, then turn it a quarter way around. Pat it down again and do this folding thing two more times to get amazing flaky parts.
- Shape and Set Up:
- With a sharp 2.5 to 3-inch cutter, push straight down without turning to cut your biscuits. Put them on a baking sheet with their sides touching to help them rise taller. Brush the tops with your leftover buttermilk.
- Bake Them Up:
- Cook for 18 to 22 minutes till they're nicely browned on top and have grown really tall. When you tap the bottom, they should sound hollow.
- Final Touch:
- While still hot, mix some melted butter with garlic powder and parsley, then brush it all over the tops for that fancy look and extra flavor pop.
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Honey is my hidden trick that nobody can quite figure out but everyone notices. My grandma showed me this after decades of making biscuits for our family farm mornings. That little bit of sweetness works with the strong cheese in a way that makes them totally addictive.
Why Cold Butter Matters
The biggest thing that makes your biscuits flaky and soft is keeping your butter super cold. I like to cut my butter into small cubes then stick them in the freezer for 10 minutes before mixing them with the dry stuff. When those cold butter bits hit your hot oven, they make steam pockets that turn into those lovely layers everyone goes crazy for. If your kitchen's really warm, you might even want to cool your flour and bowl in the fridge first.
Prepare Them Early
These cheesy biscuits are great for making ahead of time. You can get the dough ready and cut out your biscuits, then freeze them uncooked on a tray. Once they're hard, put them in a freezer bag and keep them for up to 3 months. When you want to cook them, just put the frozen biscuits on a tray, brush with buttermilk, and cook a few minutes longer than normal. Or you can fully bake them, let them cool down, and then warm them in a 150°C oven for about 5 minutes before you want to eat them.
Different Tasty Versions
Though the regular cheddar and garlic mix is amazing, this flexible biscuit recipe works with lots of changes. Try using Gruyère cheese with some fresh thyme for a French twist. Pepper Jack cheese with a bit of cayenne makes a great spicy option. For morning biscuits, throw in some crunchy bacon bits and use maple syrup instead of honey. The basic recipe stays the same, so you can really play around with what you like.
What To Eat Them With
These tasty, cheesy biscuits go great with thick soups and stews, helping you scoop up all that yummy liquid. They make killer breakfast sandwiches when you cut them open and stuff them with eggs and bacon. For a fancy brunch, serve them next to smoked salmon and cream cheese. My family really loves eating them with my slow-cooked chili on cold nights, where the touch of sweetness works well against the spicy meal.
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Get ready to enjoy the cozy, flaky goodness these biscuits bring to mealtime!
Frequently Asked Questions
- → Why do the ingredients need to be cold for these cheddar biscuits?
Cold stuff, mainly butter and buttermilk, matter because they create steam in the hot oven. This steam makes little pockets that help biscuits puff up with nice layers. Warm ingredients mean the butter mixes in too much, and you'll end up with flat, heavy biscuits instead of tall, fluffy ones.
- → Can I make these Gordon Ramsay biscuits ahead of time?
For sure! You can get the dough ready and cut the biscuits up to a day ahead. Just wrap them up and keep them in the fridge. You can also freeze them - first on a tray until hard, then pop them in a freezer bag. When you're ready, bake them straight from frozen, just add about 3-5 minutes more to the cooking time.
- → Why should the biscuits touch when baking?
Putting biscuits close together during baking is a trick called 'cluster baking.' When they touch, they prop each other up, growing taller instead of wider. This makes them higher with soft sides where they meet. They'll also stay more moist and tender this way.
- → What can I substitute for buttermilk?
No buttermilk? No problem! Mix a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar into a cup of regular milk and wait 5-10 minutes until it thickens a bit. Another option is to water down some plain yogurt or sour cream with milk until it looks like buttermilk.
- → Can I use a different cheese besides cheddar?
You bet! Sharp cheddar works great, but feel free to try Gruyère, Gouda, or Pepper Jack if you want some kick. You can even mix different cheeses together. Just stick to the same total amount (125g) and pick cheeses that melt well to keep your dough just right.
- → What's the purpose of folding the dough multiple times?
The folding isn't just for show - it creates all those yummy flaky layers. Each time you fold, you're making thin butter sheets inside the dough. When these hit the oven, the butter melts and makes steam that pushes the layers apart. Skip this step and you'll get cakey biscuits instead of flaky ones.