AGED CHEDDAR BISCUITS WITH HONEY BUTTER
If Claire Saffitz's Buttermilk Biscuits weren't already good enough (they are), the addition of Bumble & Butter's crunchy Aged Cheddar Granola and a pat of honey butter definitely does the trick. These biscuits are gorgeously flakey and buttery, and have delicious cheddary crumbles throughout. Fair warning: if you eat three of these around midnight just prior to bed, you may wake up with a bit of a biscuit hangover; that's not to say it isn't worth it.
Total time: 60 minutes
Active time: 30
Bake time: 25
Makes 12 biscuits
Ingredients for the biscuits:
3+1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
2+1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes and chilled, plus 2 tbsp melted for brushing
1 cup chilled buttermilk
1 cup Bumble & Butter Cheddar Granola, plus more for topping
Ingredients for the honey butter:
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened (not melted)
1 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp kosher salt
Pinch fresh ground black pepper
Instructions for the biscuits:
1.) Preheat a standard oven to 425° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, sugar, kosher salt, and baking soda until combined. Remove cold, cubed butter from the fridge and toss into flour mixture until cubes are coated. Using your fingers, forks, or a pastry cutter, break butter up until chunks are roughly the size of peas, and no larger chunks remain. Try to work quickly here, as we don't want the butter to warm up too much; the cold butter will steam in the oven and create rise and flakey layers!
2.) Once butter is the size of peas, drizzle buttermilk over the mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, using a fork to distribute into the mixture. Once all buttermilk has been added, a shaggy dough should be forming, with quite a bit of loose flour around it. Add 1 cup cheddar granola to bowl, breaking up any large chunks with your fingers. Knead dough several times, pressing any dry flour into the dough until you have a flakey dough with little to no loose flour remaining. Don't knead past this point, as we don't want to end up with tough biscuits (although I like to think that "tough biscuits!" is the southern translation for "tough luck").
4.) Turn dough onto a floured counter or other work surface. Lightly flour the top of the dough, and use your hands to press the dough into a 1-inch tall square (still working quickly). Use a knife or bench scraper to cut the dough into four squares. Stack the squares of dough on top of each other, like a kind of buttery tower. Lightly flour the top and counter again and use a rolling pin (or carefully use your hands) to press the stack back into a 1-inch tall rectangle. This process creates the flakey layers we'll see in the biscuits.
5.) For a cleaner look, trim the edges with a knife to create a clean rectangle. Cut rectangle into 12 even pieces (twice length wise and three times across). Distribute biscuits evenly onto parchment-lined sheet, and place in the freezer for 10 minutes. In the meantime, melt remaining 2 tbsp butter. Remove biscuits, and use a pastry brush (or a spoon if you don't have one) to brush the top of each biscuit with melted butter. Place biscuits in the oven and reduce oven temperature to 400°. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown on top. In the meantime, make the honey butter.
Instructions for the honey butter:
1.) Place softened butter in a small bowl and add honey, salt, and black pepper. Mix until combined. Take a small sheet of parchment paper and put butter into the center. Roll parchment into a tube, forming butter into a cylinder. Twist ends of parchment paper and refrigerate butter. When biscuits are ready, let them cool for a couple minutes. Split biscuits open and slather them with honey butter. Sprinkle with extra granola, and indulge.
Adapted from Claire Saffitz, Bon Appetit