I don’t know about you, but I, for one, feel like we are barreling toward the holiday season at breakneck speed. Yikes. The 
holidays mean something slightly different to all of us, and naturally we all focus on different things heading into the craziness that is October through January. For me, you may have surmised that the thing I focus on tends to be food.
I LOVE planning out holiday menus. There’s something about feeding people that I find deeply satisfying, and what better time to do that than when you’ve got a captive audience of a bunch of relatives? Some say stressful, I say – bring it.
SO, having thrown down that particular gauntlet, we’ve got to have some delectable dishes up our sleeves, yes? And what better way to start the crowd pleasing than with a batch of warm, cheesy, buttery, flaky biscuits? (There aren’t many better ways, fyi.)
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that these are the PERFECT biscuits. Slightly crisp and flaky on the outside, buttery, cheesy and delicious on the inside. I started adding the thyme last year, but the recipe is just as good with no herbs added (although I think the thyme gives it that little something extra). You can also feel free to add whatever other herbs you like instead. (I think rosemary would also be a winner here.)
But last Christmas, I was in the midst of making these (at the last minute, when everything else was almost ready, as I always do) and had some extra thyme on hand and thought ‘well, why not?’ So into the bowl it went. It was a good choice, if I do say so myself.
These are the perfect complement to any meal, and even though they’re super simple (and quick) to make, there’s something about them that makes them seem a little more on the sophisticated side, so they’re a good choice for holiday meals, in my opinion. But they also work just as well with more casual dishes, such as Brunswick Stew, or just by themselves if you’re in the mood for a delicious, cheesy snack!
Cheddar-Thyme Drop Biscuits
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup cold buttermilk
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter (melted and slightly cooled)
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp salt
Extras
- 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese
- 3 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
Prep
-
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees.
-
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Set aside.
-
Cut cheddar into small cubes. (I like to do half-inch cubes, but feel free to adjust as you like.) Set cheese aside. Rinse and dry thyme, and remove the leaves from the stems. Set aside.
-
Melt the butter. While the butter is still quite warm, combine it with the cold buttermilk and stir until the butter forms small clumps.
Combine
-
Add the cubed cheddar and the thyme to the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
-
Make a small well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the well in the dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and the batter pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Bake
-
Using greased 1/4-cup dry measure, scoop level amount of batter and drop onto parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. (I'm a little free and loose with "leveling" the batter - if you want smaller biscuits, be sure to level; if you want them a bit bigger, use a slightly heaping scoop.)
-
Repeat with remaining batter, spacing biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart.
-
Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 12 to 14 minutes.
-
Let biscuits cool 5 minutes before serving, and enjoy!
