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With the craziness of the world right now, I wanted to share a super simple and easy recipe that anyone could make from scratch. There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of taking simple ingredients and transforming them into something amazing in a matter of minutes.
I’m so thrilled to be teaming up with Tillamook to bring you this recipe. They’re one of my favorite companies to work with not just because their dairy products are top notch, but because I love Tillamook’s company values.
The shining star of this recipe are the Tillamook Farmstyle Thick Cut Sharp Cheddar Shreds. They’re farmstyle so they’re extra thick for cheesy goodness in every flaky bite. They also get nice and crispy and golden at the edges which contrasts perfectly with the fluffy biscuit interior.
But what I love most about Tillamook is the quality of their cheese and the fact that their milk isn’t treated with artificial growth hormones.
With such a simple recipe like this one, every ingredient should be of the highest quality possible for best results!
My goal in developing this biscuit recipe was to make it possible to bake even if you don’t have buttermilk on hand. There’s also no eggs involved. You may very well already have the ingredients in your kitchen to make this recipe right now!
Since this recipe doesn’t require buttermilk, I rely on a generous amount of the Tillamook Farmstyle Thick Cut Sharp Cheddar Shreds to provide just the right amount of sharpness and flavor. They’re aged for over nine months so each bite is heaven!
If you make this recipe be sure to snap a photo and share is on social tagging @handletheheat and @Tillamook so we can see your cheesy biscuit creations!
How to Make AMAZING Cheddar Biscuits
The Key to FLAKY Biscuits:
Always make sure your butter and liquid are extra cold when making biscuits. The cold chunks of butter in the dough will release steam once they hit the heat of the oven. That steam puffs up and helps to create those mouthwatering flaky layers.
If it’s a warm day, cube your butter then pop it into the freezer while you gather your other ingredients and wait for the oven to preheat. You can also freeze the shaped biscuits for 30 minutes then bake from the freezer to ensure they’re nice and flaky.
Check out my How to Make Tall Scones & Biscuits article for even more bonus tricks.
How to Ensure Fluffy & Tender Biscuits:
That tender texture is created by being extremely gentle with the dough. I usually make biscuits by hand with a pastry cutter because you’re less likely to overwork the dough and it’s still super quick and easy.
If you don’t have a pastry cutter, you can also use to knives to cut the butter into the flour. OR, you can freeze the butter until solid then grate it using the big holes on a box grater. Toss the grated butter with the flour then proceed with the recipe.
Make sure to measure correctly. The best way is to weigh your flour with a digital kitchen scale. Second best is to use the spoon-and-level method to ensure you don’t compact too much flour into your measuring cup. Too much flour will result in dense, dry, rubbery, and tough biscuits.
Milk? Buttermilk? Yogurt?
I know right now it’s extra challenging to keep certain ingredients on hand. That’s why I gave you options for which ‘liquid’ you can use in this recipe.
My favorite is usually real buttermilk but I know that typically requires an extra grocery store trip which is not in the cards for most people right now. So I developed this recipe to use regular whole milk. Since the Tillamook Farmstyle Thick Cut Sharp Cheddar Shreds are so rich and flavorful, you don’t actually miss the buttermilk!
Whole milk does work best. If you need to use 2% try adding a tablespoon of cream to compensate.
If you do have buttermilk, use a full cup since it’s thicker in consistency. You can also use 9 ounces plain whole milk yogurt! It’ll give more tang and moisture. This is also noted in the printable recipe below.
How to Shape Biscuits:
For pretty tall biscuits, a metal biscuit cutter works best. Those sharp edges help the biscuits rise tall and maintain their circle shape. Avoid twisting the biscuit cutter as you make circles from the dough.
What if I don’t have a biscuit cutter?
No problem! Once the dough is combined skip patting it out on a work surface. Instead, simply take about 1/4-cup portions and spoon onto the baking sheet and bake as directed. They’ll be a little more rustic looking but will taste just the same.
How to Freeze Biscuits for Later:
Biscuits are definitely best served the day they’re baked. So I like to freeze them to bake off later for whenever the biscuit craving hits! You can freeze off just half of the biscuits if you don’t need many right now, or you can easily double the recipe below and freeze the extra for later.
Freezing Instructions: place the unbaked shaped biscuit dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze until solid. Remove to an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months. Bake as directed from the freezer, adding an additional 5 minutes to the baking time, or until golden brown.
Bonus tip:
These biscuits make the ideal base for breakfast egg sandwiches! Cook your eggs in the biscuit cutter so you have a perfect sandwich. Feel free to add bacon, ham, tomatoes, arugula, or whatever you have on hand.
These also go perfectly with tomato soup.
Cheddar Biscuit Flavor Ideas
Although the Tillamook Sharp Cheddar Shreds are the real star of this recipe, I’ve included some fun flavor customization ideas below. Feel free to get creative, there are limitless options on how you can make this biscuit recipe your own!
Cheesy Garlic:
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
Add 1/2 teaspoon of the garlic powder to the biscuit dough with the dry ingredients. Shape and bake as directed. While baking, combine the melted butter with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and parsley. Brush over baked biscuits.
Chipotle Cheddar:
2 tablespoons green onion, sliced
1 tablespoon finely minced chipotle chiles in adobo, seeded (if desired)
Stir in the onions and chipotle with the cheese.
Jalapeno Cheddar:
2 tablespoons diced jalapeno, seeded (if desired)
Stir in the jalapeno with the cheese.
Cheddar Bacon Chive:
4-6 slices bacon, crisp cooked and crumbled
1 tablespoon finely sliced chives
Stir in bacon bits and chives with the cheese.
More Recipes You’ll Love:
- Copycat Red Lobster Cheesy Garlic Biscuits
- Ultimate Macaroni & Cheese
- Classic Buttermilk Biscuits
- Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits
Easy Cheddar Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) very cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 cup (112 grams) Tillamook Farmstyle Thick Cut Sharp Cheddar Shreds, plus more for sprinkling
- 2 teaspoons honey or granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk, chilled*
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your two knives or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. The faster you do this the better, you want the butter to remain cold. Toss in the cheese. Stir in the honey and milk until just combined. DO NOT overmix, the dough will be messy looking.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and dust the dough with flour. Gently pat the dough out until it’s a 3/4-inch in thickness.
- Use a 2-inch round biscuit cutter to push straight down through the dough to cut out circles, try not to twist the cutter. Place the biscuits on the baking sheet, spacing 2-inches apart. Reform the scrap dough into 3/4-inch thickness, being sure to work with it as little as possible, before cutting out more circles.
- Sprinkle each biscuit with more Tillamook Farmstyle Thick Cut Sharp Cheddar Shreds.
- At this point the unbaked biscuits can be frozen and stored in an airtight container in the freezer until ready to bake. Bake straight from the freezer, adding a couple more minutes to the baking time.
- Bake the biscuits until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.
I made these Easy Cheddar Biscuits this past weekend. As the name suggests, they are very easy to make. More importantly, they are delicious. The last time I made biscuits, they tasted like I was eating flour. Thus, I was a little discouraged and hesitant to try again. I’m very glad I did, though, as this recipe is delicious. Actually, every recipe of yours I’ve made has been really good. I stumbled across you on Instagram a few years ago and am so glad I did.
So glad you tried again and loved our recipe! Thanks so much for following along and trying our recipes, we appreciate you letting us know! If you don’t already, be sure to tag us (#handletheheat) in your HTH recipes on Instagram so Tessa can see them 🙂
I added 2 tbsps cayenne pepper, used salted butter , so used no extra salt. I found the liquid quantities were not quite enough so added about 1/4 cup extra milk.
I used 4 cups flour so adjusted the othet ingredients. To shorten time , I rough grated the very cold butter in a hurru.
Very pleased with the results, will try it again.
I’ve tried several cheddar biscuit recipes, but this one is BY FAR the best. Seriously the best biscuits I’ve ever eaten! I did the garlic butter topping, and they were delicious. They were also super easy to make, even though I usually struggle with biscuits – the dough was just the right texture, not too sticky. These will be my new go-to when I need a side for soups!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these biscuits! Hooray!
These look so delicious. I can’t wait to try it.
Very innovative work. Great utilization of resources!!
I don’t have whole milk or buttermilk but I do have half-and-half. Will that work as a substitute?
I haven’t tried, but I think it will work!
one of my favorite foods!! LOVE your biscuits tips, super helpful!!!!!!