30 minute Bacon Cheddar Biscuits

Sometimes you are just craving a little something savoury and these cheddar bacon biscuits are the quick & easy ticket!

Biscuits are super easy to make with no yeast required - it's baking powder that gives these guys the lift they need.

The biggest tips I can give for make flaky delicious biscuits:

1 - Cold butter

Start with cold butter to give you the best results!  You can even toss your butter sticks into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes before making your biscuits to make the butter even colder.  Use a cheese grater to grate the butter stick into small pieces to help distribute the butter throughout the dough.

2 - Roll & fold lots of times

Those "layers" of goodness come from the "roll & fold" of the biscuit dough.  The more times you do this, the more flaky layers you'll get!

I like to cook up a package of bacon at the start of each week and use the bacon pieces for a few different meals.  Start by using kitchen scissors to cut the thawed bacon slices into small pieces, then fry the bacon in a cast iron pan to desired crispiness.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towel.  Allow the bacon to cool before transfering to a mason jar and into the fridge for storage. Pull the bacon out as you need it throughout the week.

Some easy ways to love on your bacon:

• baked potato soup
• caesar salad
• focaccia bread with bacon & cheese
• bacon cinnamon buns
• bacon garlic cheddar cheese ball
• scrambled eggs or omelettes with bacon & cheese

Easy 30 minute Bacon Cheddar Biscuits Recipe

Ingredients:

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1 cup butter, cold
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup cooked bacon pieces, cooled
• 2 cups milk, plus additional 3 to 4 tablespoons if required

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 425F.  Make sure you have a oven rack towards the top of the oven (cooking them in the lower half will give you burnt bottoms on your biscuits!).

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.  Using a cheese grater, grate the butter directly into the flour mixture.  Using your hands or a fork, gently mix the butter into the flour mixture.  At t his point, you don't need the butter to combine with the flour, that will happen once you add the milk.

Stir in the cheese and the bacon.  Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture.  Pour the 2 cups of milk into the centre.  Use a fork to combine the mixture.  If all the flour does not blend in, add the additional milk and stir to combine.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a large rectangle shape that is approximately 1 1/2 inches thick.  Fold the dough into thirds like you are folding a letter to place into an envelope.  Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat the process of rolling the dough out and then folding it.  Repeat this 3 to 4 times (or even longer if you like!).  This will create all the flaky layers of buttery goodness in the biscuits.

Now, roll your dough out into a rectangle shape that is approximately 1 inch thick.  Using a kitchen knife, cut the rectangle into 18 to 24 pieces (you can vary this based on the size & shape of the rectangle).  For example, 6 rows of 3 biscuits would give you 18 biscuits.  6 rows of 4 biscuits would give you 24 biscuits.  Or you could try 5 rows of 4 biscuits to give you 20 biscuits.

Transfer the biscuits to two parchment lined baking sheets.  Brush the top of the biscuits with a little bit of milk.

Bake for 13 to 17 minutes until the tops are lightly golden brown.  Baking time depends on the size of the biscuits so start checking them at the 13 minute mark.