Delightfully warm and savory cheese biscuits are a perfect snack or baked side dish. These American-style cheddar biscuits are light, slightly crisp, tender, and loaded with tangy cheddar cheese. You won’t be able to eat just one! Here I share an easy cheese biscuit recipe with step-by-step instructions and photos to make a batch in a snap.
About These Cheese Biscuits
I first had American-style cheese biscuits after trying a recipe from Simply Recipes. One taste of that cheesy, soft biscuit and I was hooked!
While we know biscuits to be sweet or savory, crispy and crunchy baked goods here in India and much of the world. However in the United States a biscuit is a savory soft snack. They tend to have a slightly crumbly and soft inside that’s somewhere between a scone and bread.
(And in fact, they call biscuits “cookies” in America – so it can get a bit confusing.)
I just had to make my own version of American cheese biscuits – and they turned out to be a huge success! In fact, we ate an entire batch in only two days.
My tried-and-true easy biscuit recipe makes perfect bread-like biscuits that are a bit crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shredded cheddar cheese is evenly distributed throughout, so each bite has just the right savory flavor.
The terrific cheesiness and light, fluffy texture of these cheddar biscuits are great to enjoy anytime of the day as a snack. Or serve as a mouthwatering appetizer or side dish alongside your favorite comfort foods.
They’re so good you’ll want to keep them in your kitchen at all times, just in case you have a craving!
How to make Cheese biscuits
Make Biscuit Dough
1. In a large bowl or medium bowl, add 2 cups (250 grams) of all-purpose flour.
2. Add the following ingredients:
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or red chili powder or paprika)
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper (or black pepper powder) to taste
3. Stir to mix very well with a spoon or a wired whisk. You can also sift the dry ingredients with a sieve if you want.
4. Now add 100 grams cold butter (roughly one stick of butter, or ¾ cup) which has been chopped into cubes. The butter must be cold to get the right tender flaky biscuit layers.
5. Use your fingertips to mix the butter with the flour mixture until the whole mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Alternatively use a pastry blender or cutter to cut the butter into the flour.
If the butter starts to melt while mixing, place the bowl in the fridge for a few minutes and then start again.
Note that you can also use a stand mixer to mix the butter in the flour and also to form the dough.
6. Add 100 grams (about 1.5 cups) of grated cheddar cheese to the bowl. You can also use vegetarian parmesan cheese instead of cheddar cheese, if you prefer.
7. Mix well with a spatula or spoon.
8. Add ½ cup of chilled buttermilk. If you have fresh curd (yogurt), then dissolve 2 tablespoons of the chilled yogurt in ⅓ cup cold water to make about ½ cup buttermilk.
9. Mix to combine and bring the entire mixture together. But do not knead. If the butter starts melting, then cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for about 15 to 20 minutes.
If the dough looks sticky and moist, then sprinkle on some flour and lightly mix again. However, if the dough looks dry, then add a splash of more chilled buttermilk or cold water.
10. Before you bake the biscuits, first preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 minutes. Once the oven is nearly done preheating, place the dough on a floured surface.
Assemble and Slice Cheese Biscuits
11. Use a rolling pin to gently roll the dough into an 8×8 inch square.
12. Then cut into 2×2 inch squares. If the butter starts to look melted, then again, cover and place the cheese squares in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes.
13. Then place the cheese squares on a greased baking sheet or parchment paper-lined baking tray. Sprinkle the biscuit squares with some sea salt or edible rock salt (pink salt), or black salt.
If you prefer, you can brush the biscuits with some melted butter before sprinkling the sea salt.
Bake Cheddar Biscuits
14. Place the baking tray in the preheated oven.
15. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the tops are lightly golden. Timing varies from oven to oven, so do keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t become too golden brown.
16. Remove the baked cheddar biscuits from the oven. Let them sit on the baking sheet for just a minute or so, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool. If you leave them on the baking tray too long they become moist on the bottom due to heat evaporation.
Once they have cooled completely on the wire rack, store cheddar cheese biscuits in an air-tight container. You can also serve them warm or at room temperature.
17. Enjoy the cheese biscuits as a delicious tea-time snack. You can also have them with your breakfast.
Cheese Biscuits Variations
- I have used cheddar cheese in this recipe. However, you can use shredded parmesan cheese instead, or a 50/50 blend.
- Feel free to add different spices to change the biscuit taste. For an Indian flavor you can add some carom seeds (ajwain) and cumin seeds. Make them even more savory by adding garlic powder and a pinch of onion powder.
- Or prepare them as Italian-inspired cheese biscuits by making with parmesan cheese, garlic powder, plus a bit of dried oregano and basil in the dough.
- Want a fresh pop of flavor? You can also add some chopped scallions (spring onions), fresh rosemary or thyme leaves or parsley leaves, or minced garlic to the recipe.
FAQs
Enjoy these tender biscuits as a snack with coffee or tea. They are also delicious to have as a dinner side dish! Try them with Mushroom Pasta or Tomato Soup.
They will keep well for up to 4 or 5 days. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. However, they’ve never lasted for more than two days or so at my house!
You can make these biscuits with cheddar cheese or vegetarian parmesan cheese. You can also use an equal amount of both. I always make these biscuits with regular cheddar cheese. For a more deeper flavor, you can make these with aged sharp cheddar cheese.
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Cheese Biscuits | Cheddar Biscuits
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour – 250 grams
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or red chili powder or paprika
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper or black pepper powder
Other ingredients
- 100 grams Butter – cold, unsalted or ¾ cup chilled butter cubes, can swap with salted butter
- 100 grams cheddar cheese or 1.5 cups grated cheddar cheese
- ½ cup cold buttermilk – instead of buttermilk, you can also add cold milk
- 2 to 3 pinches sea salt or black salt or edible food grade rock salt – for sprinkling, as required
Instructions
Making dough
- In a mixing bowl, take all the "dry ingredients" mentioned above.
- Mix very well. You can also sift the dry ingredients with a sieve if you want.
- Chop cold butter in small cubes and add them to the flour.
- Mix the butter pieces with your finger tips with the flour mixture until the whole mixture resembles breadcrumbs. If the butter melts while mixing, keep the mixture in the fridge for few minutes and then start again. You can also use a stand mixer to mix the butter in the flour.
- Grate the cheese and add to the flour butter mixture. While grating cheese you can keep the flour-butter mixture in the fridge.
- Mix well with a spatula or spoon.
- Add the cold buttermilk. If you have fresh yogurt or curd, then dissolve 2 tablespoons chilled curd in ⅓ cup cold water to make buttermilk.
- Mix and bring the whole mixture together. Do not knead. Buttermilk is added to bind the mixture. So simply mix and gather till the mixture comes together in one large dough.
- In case the butter starts melting, then keep the dough covered in the fridge for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Making cheese biscuits
- Before baking preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 minutes.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface.
- With a rolling pin, gently roll to a square of 8×8 inch square.
- Then cut into 2×2 inch squares. If the butter starts to look melted, then keep the cheese squares covered in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Place the cheese squares in a greased or parchment lined baking tray. Sprinkle the biscuit squares with some sea salt or edible rock salt or pink salt or black salt.
Baking cheese biscuits
- Place in the preheated oven and bake the biscuits for 20 to 25 minutes or till the tops are golden.
- While still hot, remove the biscuits. Keep them on a wire rack to cool. If you keep the cheese biscuits in the baking tray for cooling, they become moist from the bottom due to heat evaporation.
- Once they are cooled on the wire rack, then store them in an airtight container. You can also serve them warm or at room temperature. Leftovers can be refrigerated and then warmed in a pan or oven before serving.
- Enjoy the cheese biscuits as a delicious tea time snack.
Notes
- Feel free to add your preferred choice of herbs or spices to the dough.
- Ensure that both the butter and the buttermilk are cold. This helps the biscuits to rise and get a crispy flaky texture.
- Do not knead the dough. Simply gather all the ingredients and combine to form a dough. We do not want any gluten strands to form in the dough.
- Make sure the butter is cold at all times when you knead or roll the dough. If the butter gets melted during any of the dough working steps, place the dough in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes.
- I always make these biscuits with regular cheddar cheese. For a more sharper flavor, you can make these with aged cheddar cheese. Parmesan cheese can also be swapped with cheddar cheese or use an equal mix of both.
- The recipe can be scaled to make a smaller portion or a larger batch.
- Note that the approximate nutrition info is for 1 cheese biscuit made from this recipe.
Nutrition Info (Approximate values)
This Cheese Biscuits post from the archives (January 2012) has been republished and updated on 12 October 2021.
I try many recipes from this site and each time it turns out to be super duper hit.
These biscuit recipe is a sure keep for times to come !!
Thank you ma’am for sharing your recipes :-).
thank you dhanalakshmi. glad to read your feedback. most welcome and happy cooking.
Thank you for such a delicious and easy recipe. .. turned out to be awesome!