Buttery, flaky Cheese Bacon Apple Biscuits are your new addiction! Salty and savoury with just a hint of sweetness they make a great accompaniment to breakfast, or with soup for lunch. But I’ll take one any old time because they are so dammed good!
The Key To A Great Biscuit
They look simple, but biscuits are an art form. They’re all about that flour to water to fat ratio, like a croissant. If you don’t have enough water to hydrate the layers of fat, you’ll have tough little hockey pucks, not tender, flaky biscuits.
To get that lift that is the signature of a beautiful biscuit, your base mix – flour, baking soda, and salt – needs to be fully incorporated with your butter, similar to making pastry. In this recipe, I’ve used a food processor, but you could just as easily get the same effect by grating frozen butter directly into your dry ingredients and rubbing the mix between your hands to combine. It takes more time, but it’s equally as effective.
What you’re looking for is a coarse, sandy texture before you add your cheese and bacon, apple and green onion, and THEN your buttermilk.
Knead, But Just a Little
We’re not working bread here, so while biscuits require a good bit of handy-work, they don’t like to be roughed up too much. If you’re making this recipe for Cheese Bacon Apple Biscuits, or any biscuit, knead lightly, about 5 to 7 times, turning as you go.
Be sure to work on a well-floured surface, or your dough will stick to the counter, making it impossible to separate after you cut… and that is messy.
In the “recipe in one minute or less” video for these biscuits, I nicked my thumb chopping the apples. (No biggie. Do not send the ambulance.) Sometimes you just have to muscle up and put on your big-girl Spiderman Band-aid and get on with it. Sharp knives cut clean!
Cut Clean For Good Lift
Cutting to shape is the final step before you bake to get good results you need a nice, clean cut. I recommend a good, sharp biscuit or cookie cutter for this task. In a pinch, a sharp knife is better than a dull cutter or ring. If your cutter is dull the edges of the biscuit will pinch, and adhere, instead of leavening and rising. You can cut Cheese Bacon Apple Biscuits into squares or triangles if needed. Shape is subjective.
Try these with scrambled eggs, or as a buttery companion to soup or stew. You’ll be glad you did.
Drive the clan crazy with the smell of fresh-baked biscuits… and bacon… and cheese… and apple. These. Are. Epic. Buttery, flaky, and OMG good Cheese Bacon Apple Biscuits are perfect for breakfast, lunch or snacks!
Ingredients
UnitsScale
3 1/2cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1cup salted butter, cold, cut in cubes
1/2cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1cup mozzarella cheese. grated
3/4cup sweet apple, peeled and diced
1/2cup green onion, chopped
8 – 10 slices of well-cooked smoked bacon, crumbled or chopped
1 1/2 – 2cups buttermilk
Instructions
Preheat oven to 410°F (210°C). Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a food processor, add flour, baking powder, and salt then half your butter, and pulse three or four times to combine. Add the remainder of your butter and pulse until well combined, and sandy then transfer to a large bowl. (If you don’t have a food processor, lightly whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl then grade FROZEN butter into the dry mix. Rub between the palms of your hands until the mixture is coarse and sandy.)
Add cheddar, mozzarella, apple, onion, and bacon and toss lightly to combine. Now add your buttermilk. Start with 1 1/2 cups and add more if needed. Mix dough with a wooden spoon until a shaggy, loose dough begins to form then turn out onto a well-floured surface. Knead biscuit dough with well-floured hands 5 – 8 times, or until dough holds together well.
Shape dough into a large round, about 1 1/2 inches thick., then cut biscuits into the desired shape with a sharp biscuit cutter or knife. Transfer onto waiting baking sheet, leaving about 1/2 inch between each biscuit. Bake at 410°F (210°C) for 15 – 20 minutes depending on biscuit size.
Remove and cool on a baking rack for about 5 minutes then, just try to resit them!
Cooking in her home kitchen just outside Ottawa, Canada; Cori Horton is a food photographer and recipe blogger. A Cordon Bleu-trained Chef, Cori spent five years as the owner of Nova Scotia's Dragonfly Inn and has been sharing all things delicious - right here - since 2010.
Comments (0)