Tender, flaky, homemade bacon cheddar biscuits are so quick and simple to bake up. They also freeze perfectly so you can always have some on hand to go with your soups, stews, and chilis. Oh, and let's not forget they make the best breakfast sandwiches!
Cheddar and bacon give these biscuits loads of flavor, but if you prefer you can leave them out and make plain biscuits too. Or get creative and add your own mix-ins! Try adding a minced jalapeño if you like things spicy, or chives for a little onion-y flavor. Biscuits are easy to make, but for the best results here are a few things to keep in mind.
Tips for Making the Best Flaky Biscuits
- Work with fridge-cold ingredients, especially when it comes to butter. Cold butter makes flaky biscuits. Work as quickly as you can when mixing and folding the dough, so your ingredients don't have time to warm up too much.
- Don't skip the folding of the dough. That is the other secret to flaky biscuits!
- Do skip the food processor for this one and use your hands or a pastry blender to mix the dough. It's really easy to over-process with a machine and you want visible chunks of butter in the dough. Plus, who wants to clean all those parts when it's just as easy to use your hands?
- When cutting out the biscuits, push straight down on the cutter and don't twist or wiggle it. This will ensure the biscuits rise to their full flaky potential!
And here's one last tip for you, before I tell you step-by-step how to make these bacon cheddar biscuits. In case you're wondering:
What's the Best Way to Reheat Frozen Biscuits?
Buttery biscuits from scratch are such a treat, I'm always amazed at how quickly my little family can inhale a batch of these. So I rarely have a chance to freeze them. BUT if you have more self-control than we do, you should know that they freeze and reheat beautifully.
The best way to reheat them by far is in the oven. Just preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, put the fully-baked frozen biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake for around 10-15 minutes until heated through. They will be ALMOST as good as fresh.
Step-by-Step Directions for Making Bacon Cheddar Biscuits
- Start by frying up some bacon and grating some cheddar so they are ready to incorporate as soon as your dough is mixed.
2. Whisk together your dry ingredients and add cubes of cold butter. Using your hands or a pastry blender, cut or squish the butter into the flour mixture until you have pea-size pieces of butter.
3. Mix in the grated cheese and bacon and stir in the buttermilk. Working quickly, form the dough into a ball. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and form the dough into a rough ½ inch thick square.
4. Fold the dough square into thirds, like a letter, and press it out into another ½ inch thick square. Repeat the folding and pressing into a square two more times. By the time you get to the third pressing out, the dough will be firmer and more elastic, and you may need a rolling pin.
5. Using a 2 ½ inch biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out the biscuits and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Be sure to press directly down on the cutter without twisting it. You can roll out the scraps to make additional biscuits.
6. Bake the biscuits in a preheated oven at 425 degrees F for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and puffed. Brush the tops with melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven, if you wish.
Serve warm from the oven!
Bacon Cheddar Biscuits
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon chopped
- ¾ cup grated sharp cheddar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons butter (1 ½ sticks)
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk* see notes for a buttermilk substitution
- melted butter for brushing (optional)
Instructions
- Add the chopped bacon to a cold skillet and turn the heat to medium, stirring occasionally until browned (about 5 minutes). Set aside with the grated cheddar.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.
- Cut the cold butter into ½ inch cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter, a fork, or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter pieces are pea-sized. Stir in the cold buttermilk, grated cheese, and bacon.
- Knead the dough a few times to form it into a ball. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface.
- Using your hands, form the dough into a rough ½ inch thick square. Fold the square into thirds, like a letter, and press out into another square. Repeat the folding and pressing 2 more times.
- Using a floured 2 ½ inch pastry cutter, cut the biscuit rounds and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Press the dough scraps together to make more biscuits.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes until golden and flaky. Optional: brush butter onto the tops as soon as they come out of the oven, if you wish. Serve warm.
Notes
Hi! I'm Ann and I blog at Our Happy Mess. I'm all about fast, fresh, and family-friendly recipes. I believe cooking from scratch can not only be doable but FUN, no matter how busy life gets!
You can find more of my recipes at Our Happy Mess.
Becky Minor says
When do you add the bacon and cheese?
Vicki Gorham says
I'm guessing you add the cheddar and bacon to dry ingredients before buttermilk goes in?
Coco and Ash says
Sorry about that! It goes in at the same time as the buttermilk 🙂