Flaky Cheddar and Ham Biscuits

Flaky Cheddar and Ham Biscuits

By Katie Goodman

If you have trouble making tender and flaky biscuits, give this recipe a try. The combination of the two different flours and the very cold butter makes a big difference. I like to use a box grater to grate the butter, as opposed to cutting the butter using other methods such as a food processor or pastry cutter. It works great for me this way, but it certainly isn't the only method that works. I do think it's faster than cutting with a pastry cutter and definitely has less clean up than a food processor, but feel free to use whichever method you prefer.

When kneading the dough to form a ball, it helps to press to flatten and then fold over, press to flatten and then fold over, repeating until your dough comes together. Folding the dough on top of itself helps form layers to create flaky, pull-apart biscuits.

We like to cut the biscuits in half and fill with scrambled eggs for a yummy breakfast or dinner egg sandwich. Serve with a side of fruit.

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Ingredients

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cake flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons salted butter, very cold even frozen works
¾ cup buttermilk
½ cup cheddar cheese
½ cup ham

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450° F. In a medium-sized bowl, measure out the flours, baking soda, and salt. Stir well and set aside.

Using the largest hole on a box cheese grater, grate the cold butter onto a plate or cutting board. After grating, place the plate or cutting board with the butter into the freezer while you complete the next step.

Dice the ham and cheese into very small cubes, about ¼" in size. Add the ham and cheese to the flour mixture and toss to coat and evenly distribute the diced bits.

Remove the butter from the freezer and stir into the flour mixture, taking care to evenly distribute so as not to have any overly large clumps stuck together. Stir in the buttermilk until the mixture comes together and is moist.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few times until you can form a rough ball. Flatten the dough into a circle about ½" in thickness. Using a biscuit cutter or a drinking glass (about 3" in diameter for the listed baking time) turned upside down, cut as many rounds as you can. Using the dough scraps, form another circle of the same thickness. Repeat cutting until you have used all the dough.

Place the biscuits on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake at 450° F for 10-12 minutes. The biscuit tops should be lightly browned. Serve immediately.

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http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/03/flaky_cheddar_and_ham_biscuits.html