Cheddar and Herb Buttermilk Biscuits

About this Recipe

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By: Rachel

I certainly have a sweet tooth. But I love savory pastry—quiches, herby scones and biscuits, croissants filled with cured meats or cheeses—it is all so buttery, so delicious, so satisfying. 

Since I much prefer savory breakfasts to sweet ones, I am constantly disappointed when I pop into a bakery in the morning and am confronted with nothing but Danishes, fruit scones, and doughnuts – most of which are usually far too sweet.

I would rather start my day with a warm mushroom and gruyère tart, a buttermilk biscuit, or a cheddar scone, and I am always stymied as to why these are so difficult to find. I’d rather nosh on that doughnut when my blood sugar takes its 3:00 p.m. dive than when I first wake up.

This recipe—a flaky, tender, savory biscuit with plenty of flavorful cheddar cheese and aromatic herbs—is a delicious first bite in the morning, or a satisfying snack any time of day. 

There is a theory going around that southern biscuits are superior in lightness and fluffiness thanks to the differences in the type of flour used in the South. (We must also make allowances for the incredible tradition of biscuit-baking in that part of the world, with many time-honored Biscuit Secrets surely being passed down from one generation to the next). 

Southerners often use White Lily—a brand of flour made from softer, southern wheat, which has less gluten protein than the hardier wheats grown in the north. The protein therein is also weaker, resulting in lighter and fluffier bakes. White Lily has 9% gluten content. The King Arthur All-Purpose Flour I use for every day has 11.7%; my Softasilk cake flour has 6.9%. Not wishing to take this little math problem too far,* I opted to use a ratio of 2:1 Softasilk cake flour to King Arthur AP flour for my biscuits, aiming to end up with a gluten content closer to that of White Lily. I felt that the biscuits did come out lighter and fluffier this way—I’m curious to hear what biscuit aficionados think.

*I can’t help but take things too far, so I asked a math-inclined friend, who indicated that the optimal ratio to imitate the gluten content of White Lily per 100 grams would be 44% all-purpose flour to 56% cake flour. However, I prefer the consistency of the 2:1 ratio of cake flour to all-purpose flour called for here.