I love a good hot biscuit covered in melted butter. Don’t you? What I dislike is rolling out dough, making a mess, and then having the whole concoction fall flat in the oven. I’ve comes to terms with the fact that biscuit dough hates me. It’s cool. My grandmother got all of the biscuit making genes in the family. Thankfully what I have instead is a subscription to Cooks Illustrated. Their Best Drop Biscuit recipe is my saving grace. I make them all the time. CK makes them all the time. They’re easy, quick, and addictive. Just what you want to accompany your fabulous soup, stews, and chilies.
The other really lovely thing about this recipe is how versatile it is. You can literally throw in the kitchen sink (which I obviously did with the addition of pepper, chives, and cheese) and the dough just loves whatever you give it. Sweet or savory, you can dress these biscuits up or down and always end up satisfied.
Black Pepper-Cheddar-Chive Drop Biscuits
Best Drop Biscuit recipe originally published in Cooks Illustrated.
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
2 tablespoons thinly sliced chives
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup buttermilk (cold)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (about 5 minutes), plus 2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing biscuits
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Whisk flour, pepper, cheese, scallions, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Combine buttermilk and 8 tablespoons melted butter in medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small clumps.
Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of bowl. Using greased 1/4-cup dry measure, scoop level amount of batter and drop onto parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet (biscuits should measure about 2 1/4 inches in diameter and 1 1/4 inches high). Repeat with remaining batter, spacing biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 12 to 14 minutes.
Brush biscuit tops with remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 5 minutes before serving.
