Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits

May 29: National Biscuit Day

Living in Texas, we enjoy the Southwest flavors at local restaurants that serve Tex-Mex and downhome country cooking. On a road trip to Gonzales and Shiner, somewhere between San Antonio and Houston, we stopped for lunch at a saloon-looking café. The free appetizer included jalapeño cheddar biscuits. Like the free Cheddar Bay biscuits given at Red Lobster, we got full just eating them before our meal! They were so carb-o-licious that we wanted to bake a batch of these biscuits as soon as we got home. They taste terrific on their own as a snack or as a side dish when we cook oven fried chicken or chicken fried steak. Turn up the heat and add a little spice to life on National Biscuit Day by baking jalapeño cheddar biscuits!

Recipe

(Adapted from Fox 11 News)

 

Ingredients

  • 2 cups self rising flour
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter, cold, cut into small pieces
  • 1, 2 or 3 jalapeños, seeded, deveined and chopped finally (depending on preferred heat level)
  • ½ – 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1 cup buttermilk, cold
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter for the top

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and sugar. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter pieces until there are pea-sized crumbles.

Add the jalapeños and cheese. Pour in the buttermilk and gently stir until moist.

Dump on a clean, floured surface and press the dough together. Roll out to 1 inch thickness. Use a 2 inch round cutter to cut out the biscuits. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with melted butter. Bake in a preheated oven at 450 degrees F for 15-17 minutes or until the tops are golden. Remove from the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Notes

  • We like White Lily brand self rising flour because it is light and soft. Be careful about overworking the dough, though, or the biscuits will get hard.
  • When cutting the round shapes, avoid twisting. Just lift the biscuits out of the dough and place on the prepared baking pan. This helps the biscuits rise higher.
  • For softer and less crisp biscuits, place the cut outs close together and pull the biscuits apart after baking.