Cheesy Chive Biscuits

Perfectly golden, wonderfully flaky, and irresistibly cheesy, these cheesy chive biscuits are a delightful addition to your breakfast table or a savory side for dinner that will have everyone coming back for more.

Watch how to make this

Ingredients

• Garlic: Garlic adds a robust flavor to the biscuits, enhancing their savory profile. It provides aromatic depth and a hint of pungency that complements the richness of the cheese and butter, making the biscuits more flavorful.
• All-purpose flour: Provides the necessary gluten to give the biscuits their shape and texture. All-purpose flour is ideal for biscuits because it has a lower protein content than bread flour, resulting in more tender biscuits.
• Baking powder: Helps the biscuits rise during baking. It creates air pockets in the dough, resulting in a light and fluffy texture.
• Cheese: Cheddar cheese and parmesan contributes rich, savory flavors and enhances the overall taste of the biscuits. They also add moisture and fat, which contribute to a tender texture.
• Chives: Add a mild onion-like flavor that brightens up the richness of the biscuits.
• Buttermilk: Adds moisture to the biscuit dough while also providing acidity, which helps tenderize the gluten in the flour. This results in a softer texture. Additionally, buttermilk interacts with baking powder to enhance leavening, contributing to a light and airy biscuit.

Substitutions and variations

• Spicy: Add chopped fresh jalapenos for a spicy kick.
• Flavors: Switch up the cheeses substituting parmesan and cheddar with pepperjack, gruyere, or romano cheese. You can also add other herbs including thyme, rosemary, or parsley.
• Gluten-free: Use your favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Prepare dough

Let's start preparing the dough by first making the garlic butter. I know this may be an unusual step when it comes to making biscuits, but it's a necessary one. Cooking the garlic in butter allows the spicy garlic flavor to soften, adding more flavor to the dough.

Melt butter in a small pan, sauté grated garlic until lightly browned, then chill the mixture in the freezer for about 10 minutes. You can also cook the garlic the day before. If preparing the garlic butter the day before, store it in the refrigerator.

In a food processor, combine the chilled garlic butter with flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, shredded cheddar, grated parmesan, and chopped chives. If you don't have a food processor, you can use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add cold butter chunks and pulse until the butter is incorporated into small pieces. This creates pockets of butter in the dough, which will result in flaky layers when baked.

Next, add cold buttermilk and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Be careful not to overmix, as this can lead to tough biscuits. Overmixing develops gluten, which can make the biscuits dense rather than light and flaky. Transfer the dough to a clean surface and knead gently a few times to bring it together.

Step 2: Fold

Pat the dough into a ½-inch thick square, then cut it into four equal squares. Stack these portions on top of each other and press down. This folding technique creates layers in the biscuits, contributing to their flaky texture.

Repeat this process once more, then pat the dough to a 1-inch thickness. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 12 hours.

Chilling the dough allows the butter to firm up, which helps create flaky layers and prevents the biscuits from spreading too much during baking. We also want to rest the dough and give time for the gluten to relax after the folding process.

Step 3: Bake

After chilling, cut the dough into six equal portions and place them on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about an inch apart. If you place the biscuits too close together, they will spread and touch one another while baking. Although this is desirable in some recipes, in this case, this will prevent the biscuits from cooking properly.

Brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with additional grated parmesan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown on top and firm to the touch. You'll know they're done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the bottoms are golden brown.

Allow the biscuits to cool slightly before serving, and enjoy their cheesy, garlicky goodness while still warm.

My goodness the smell from these cheesy chive biscuits was absolutely intoxicating! I couldn't wait to give these a try and boy, did they exceed my expectations. The combination of parmesan with sharp cheddar, roasted garlic, and fresh chives is absolute heaven. Now if only I can stop eating them!

Make-ahead and storage tips

• Make-ahead: You can prepare the biscuit dough 12 hours in advance. You can also cut the dough into biscuits and chill them in the refrigerator up to 12 hours before baking.
• Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Frequently asked questions

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Recipe

Print Recipe

Cheesy Chive Biscuits

Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bread

Servings: 6 biscuits

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

Garlic butter

• 1 tablespoon butter (14 grams)
• 5 cloves garlic, grated

Biscuit dough

• 2 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (300 grams)
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup shredded sharp cheddar (63 grams)
• ⅓ cup grated parmesan (28 grams)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
• ½ cup cold butter, cut into small chunks (114 grams)
• ¾ cup cold buttermilk (187 ml)

Topping

• 1 tablespoon melted butter (14 grams)
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan (16 grams)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Make garlic butter. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small saute pan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until aromatic and lightly browned, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer garlic butter to a bowl. Chill in the freezer until cold, about 10 minutes.
• Combine chilled garlic butter with flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, sharp cheddar, parmesan, chives, and butter in a food processor. Add butter and pulse mixture until butter is cut into small chunks and incorporated into flour.
• Add buttermilk and pulse about 5 times or until dough is just starting to come together. Transfer dough to a clean work counter and knead a couple of times until dough comes together.
• Pat down dough into ½-inch thick square. Cut into 4 equal squares and stack the portions on top of one another. Press down on dough and pat down until ½-inch thick. Cut into 4 equal squares and repeat. Pat down dough until it's 1-inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 12 hours.
• Remove dough from oven and cut into 6 equal portions. Lay biscuits on prepared baking sheet, spacing them 1-inch apart. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle grated parmesan on top. Bake biscuits for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before enjoying.

Notes

If you don't have a food processor, you can prepare the dough by hand. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, garlic butter, cheddar, parmesan, chives, and butter in a large bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or your hands, mixing until the butter is the size of peas. Slowly add buttermilk while mixing until dough comes together. Continue with the recipe.

You can prepare the biscuit dough 12 hours in advance.