Cheddar-Scallion Biscuits

I made a batch of these up quickly the other morning before bringing them to a great big brunch celebration. If I had brought my camera there might be a better picture posted here – oops – but I think you get the idea. Cheesy and salty biscuits with nice crispy edges.

My favourite coffee shop makes a cheddar scone that is the best I’ve ever tried. They are almost always sold out when I go in for one, so in order to feed my craving I tried to find a recipe that approximates the coffee shop ones. Mine aren’t as pretty, but they taste pretty close to the real thing. This recipe is from Gourmet Magazine, but it seems to be a really common one that comes up in a web search.

Makes 12 biscuits

What you need:

• 2 & 1/4 cups flour
• 2 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons cold butter
• 1 & 1/2 cups aged white cheddar, grated
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 cup buttermilk (I used soured milk – add 1 tablespoon vinegar to milk)

What you do:

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Preheat the oven to 450F and prepare baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Cut the cold butter up and then blend it into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until the butter is about the size of small peas. Add the cheddar and scallions to combine.
4. Add the buttermilk and stir only until it is combined.
5. Scoop onto the cookie sheets (I used an ice-cream scoop) into 12 mounds. Add a touch of salt to the top if you wish.
6. Bake 18-20 minutes, one tray at a time, in the middle of the oven. Mine baked really fast, so they came out a little earlier. They look nice and browned when they are done, thanks to the cheese.
7. Eat ASAP so they are still warm, or let them cool. Yummy either way! Some people might want a little butter to slather on them, but I think they have enough flavour without.