Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Cheddar-Chive-Bacon Biscuits

These are like geodes--ugly on the outside, beautiful on the inside. Honestly, bake them and crack one open. The first thing that will hit you is the steam. It is warmly aromatic and fills the kitchen with a delectable scent. The cheddar and the bacon all combine with a soft buttery chive biscuit in a way that is...sort of miraculous! I love soup, and I feature lots of recipes for them on my blog. If you make soup, be sure and make these too. They freeze really well in freezer bags. I have them on hand for a night when I need a small miracle... Recipe by Kelsey Nixon on "cookingchanneltv.com".


Ingredients:

7 slices bacon or use 5-6 t Hormel Real Bacon Bits
3 C flour
3 T sugar (I used only 2 T--like 'em less sweet)
4 t baking powder
1 1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
3/4 C (1 and 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces or grated
1 1/2 C shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 C chopped fresh chives
1 C buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a skillet, cool bacon until crisp and brown. Transfer to paper towels (I put mine on paper towels on top of a paper bag 'cause I have granite counters) and drain. Chop and set aside. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Using a food processor, pastry cutter, or fingertips incorporate the chilled butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the cheese, fresh chives, and cooked bacon or bacon bits. Mix to distribute the ingredients evenly. Add the buttermilk and stir until just moistened. This is important. If you overmix you will get a tough biscuit. 

Using 1/3 C of dough for each biscuit, drop the biscuits with a measuring cup on the baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake the biscuits until golden brown on top, about 15 to 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean ( I use a strand of spaghetti as a tester). Serve warm with butter on the side for those who want it (they don't really need it).

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