Awhile ago, my boyfriend told me that he wanted fried chicken and biscuits for dinner so I decided to attempt to make Cheddar Bay Biscuits, like those that Red Lobster is famous for. A Google search for a Cheddar Bay Biscuit recipe mostly resulted in ones that called for adding shredded cheddar cheese and garlic powder to Bisquick biscuit mix. Since I am morally opposed to box mixes, I began a crusade to find the perfect recipe for garlic cheddar biscuits. The best biscuit recipe I found comes from America's Test Kitchen and produces fluffy, delicious, fall-apart biscuits. The trick is to add cold buttermilk to melted and cooled butter, which makes the butter clump into little pieces. This is an ingenious, fool-proof method of cutting in the butter and is what makes the biscuits so light and fluffy.
Since I normally do not buy or use buttermilk, I add a tablespoon of lemon juice to a cup of milk and let it sit in the fridge, allowing the milk to curdle and imitate buttermilk. To replicate Cheddar Bay Biscuits, I just added shredded cheddar cheese, garlic powder and parsley flakes (for colour) to the recipe:
1 c cold buttermilk
1/4 c unsalted butter, melted and slighty cooled
1 c shredded cheddar cheese (or more, depending on how cheesy you like it...I usually end up with a cup and a half of shredded cheddar)
2 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp garlic powder (or more!)
1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
1. Preheat oven to 475°F.
2. Mix together dry ingredients with the shredded cheese.
3. Slowly add buttermilk to cooled, melted butter while mixing.
4. Add butter mixture to the dry ingredients and gently mix to combine. Try not to overmix to avoid forming gluten, which can make the biscuits tough. The dough should be a little sticky.
5. Form biscuits about a 1/4 cup in size. You can use a greased 1/4 measuring cup and drop the biscuits onto the baking sheet, however I find it easiest just to use my hands. Again, be careful not to overwork the dough and just loosely form the biscuits. There is no need to waste energy packing it.
6. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until golden.
7. Cool and enjoy!
These biscuits are incredibly easy and quick to make and so delicious, especially fresh from the oven. They can be reheated in a toaster oven the next day. I hope you like them!
