- 10
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups minus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping Ask a question about this ingredient.
Preparation
Step 1
Frequently on Tuesdays, Kristen shows up to our photo shoot bearing an armload of goodies from Bluebird Coffee Shop. All of the baked treats from this tiny gem of a place in the East Village of Manhattan are delicious, but our little cadre has pinpointed a couple of particular favorites: the doughnuts (more on those later this week from Amanda), and the cheese biscuits -- impossibly tender and almost melting within, the subtle bite of cheddar woven throughout. The other week, Amanda and I went to visit Adam Baumgart in his pastry kitchen in the basement of Bluebird, and he taught us how to make both of our top picks, sharing his tips and tricks along the way. This is Adam’s recipe for his heavenly biscuits.
Makes 10 to 12 large biscuits
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and put it in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes. In the meantime, cut the butter into chunks and leave out at room temperature (you want it malleable, but not soft).
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat it to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the chilled dry ingredients, the cheese and the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for a few minutes, until the chunks of butter are no bigger than a large pea – or a small bean. (In the oven, the water in the chunks of butter creates steam, which in turn will creates lovely pockets of air within the biscuits.)
Add the buttermilk to the bowl and mix on low just until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a floured board, dust your fingers with flour and gently knead it a few times. Quickly and carefully pat the dough into a large rectangle about 1/2 an inch thick.
Dip a 3-inch round cutter with sharp edges in flour and then cut the biscuits using an even downward motion, without twisting the cutter. Transfer the rounds of dough to the baking sheets, leaving an inch or two of space between them. When you’ve cut the first batch of biscuits, gently pat the dough into another rectangle and cut a few more -- discard the dough or add the funky leftover shapes to the baking sheets after the second batch is cut (if you shape the dough a third time, the biscuits will be tough).
Beat the egg with a splash of water (if you’re feeling fancy, you can then pass it through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of any clumps of egg white that might burn). Brush the tops of the biscuits lightly with egg wash and bake for about 20 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the biscuits are a deep golden brown. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets but serve them while still warm!
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Baked a batch of these yesterday - delicious! I used them for fried egg sandwiches this morning - sliced them in half, spread a little greek yoghurt mixed with paprika and granulated garlic, added an egg over-medium. They were gone in a trice.
If you add chopped jalepeno to this fabulous recipe, you have...well, a cheddar-jalapeno scone.
these rock! i added some chopped ramp greens and they were extra delicious. and beautiful too!
I made these this morning. I'm not much of a baker, but they turned out lovely. Salty, but not too salty. I too didn't have a biscuit cutter so I used my stainless steel cocktail shaker. Worked like a charm. Thanks so much for the recipe. I will make these again and again. Cheer!
Can I use White Lily flour to make these biscuts?
Thanks Merrill! I will bake them for my book group tomorrow night - although I will make mini-biscuits instead. I thought they would go nicely with some fresh fruit, a good bottle of wine, and perhaps some chocolate delicacies as well.:)
I made these for dinner tonight, they were extremely salty. I was wondering if anyone else had this experience. I would reduce the salt to 1 tsp next time. Other than the saltiness, they were easy to make and I think will be perfect with less salt.
Yum, these are delicious. As with wssmom, we had these with leftover Easter ham. Baking on the fly, I used yogurt in place of the buttermilk. I love the idea of adding the leftover bits to the baking sheet after the second batch is cut!
Thank you, I have always wanted to learn how to make these wonderful biscuits. I have had something similar with a little bit of chopped scallion mixed in.
Will make these soon. Looking forward to the donuts. Thanks, A&M!
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