Flaky, Homemade White Cheddar Biscuits
Say hello to the king of brunch: flaky, homemade cheddar biscuits! The secret to extra flaky layers? Super cold ingredients and stacking the biscuit dough.
There’s a lot of heated conversations around biscuits. Should you use butter or shortening? Which is better: drop biscuits or cut? Most of it comes down to personal preference.
Here’s what we can tell you: if you want biscuits that are light, tender, flaky, and sky high (just look at that rise!), this cheddar biscuit recipe is the one you’ve been searching for!
We’ve made these approximately 1,983,092 times. A slight exaggeration? Maybe. But you should know that these are tested, tried, and true, not just once… not twice… but at least 2 dozen times over the years.
So who’s ready to make the best homemade biscuits?!
Ingredients for White Cheddar Biscuits
Making homemade biscuits can be daunting. We get it. But the ingredient list is simple and we’re going to walk you step-by-step through the process. Here’s what you’ll need to make the biscuit dough:
- All-purpose flour: The body of the biscuit!
- Baking powder: This helps the biscuits spread up and out, giving them their signature rise.
- Baking soda: This reacts with the buttermilk (the acid in this recipe) to create carbon dioxide, which also helps the biscuits to rise.
- Kosher salt: To season the biscuits
- Unsalted butter, very cold: While baking, the cold butter caught in the flour is what creates layers of flaky dough!
- White cheddar cheese: Adds a sharp, cheesy bite. Use freshly grated white cheddar, if possible. It melts beautifully into the flaky biscuit layers!
- Fresh sage: Amazing fresh flavor, that works particularly well with fall flavors!
- Buttermilk, very cold (because buttermilk biscuits are the best biscuits!): The acid needed to activate the baking soda and puff up the biscuits.
Keep those refrigerated ingredients extremely cold. Don’t pull them out until you’re ready to use them!
Just before you pop the cheddar biscuits into the oven, brush them with melted butter and rye. A sprinkle of flaky sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper is a must!
Serve with honey and butter if desired. And we really, really hope that’s what your heart desires!
How To Make Cheddar Biscuits
Making homemade biscuits from scratch is easier than you think.
Lay a piece of plastic wrap down before you begin rolling and cutting the biscuits. Makes clean up a breeze!
- Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Cut in the cold butter with a fork or pastry cutter.
- Working quickly, mix in the chopped sage, grated cheddar cheese, and (ice cold) buttermilk.
- Turn the biscuit dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a rectangle.
- Cut the dough into four equal-sized pieces, then stack them on top of each other. Roll out the stacked dough until it’s about an inch thick.
- Cut out the biscuits, then place them on a baking sheet and freeze for a few minutes.
Just before baking the biscuits, brush them with a mixture of melted butter and rye, then sprinkle with flaky sea salt and black pepper.
How Long To Bake Homemade Biscuits
These cheddar biscuits will cook at 425 F for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown.
We recommend serving biscuits warm, fresh from the oven. Butter, honey, or even homemade preserves make great biscuit toppings!
Is There A Buttermilk Substitute I Can Use?
Because buttermilk is one of the star ingredients in this biscuit recipe, I don’t recommend substituting it. Get your hands on some real buttermilk for the best flavor and texture.
To make your own buttermilk at home, check out this simple recipe.
Variations on Cheddar Biscuits
Definitely experiment and mix in whichever herbs and cheeses you like best! Don’t have sage? Try rosemary. Want to use a cheese other than cheddar? Try asiago or gouda. Love spice? Add 1 small jalapeño (minced) when mixing in cheese and herbs.
Hello, how delicious does a jalapeño cheddar biscuit sound?!
This is such an adaptable and easy biscuit recipe, you really can’t go wrong with flavor variations.
Tips For The Best Homemade Biscuits
- Keep refrigerated ingredients extremely cold. As the biscuits cook, the butter steams and helps to create those swoon-worthy flaky biscuit layers we’re going for!
- Buy a block of cheddar cheese and grate it yourself. Pre-shredded cheese is often coated in cornstarch, which may alter the consistency of these flaky buttermilk biscuits.
- Don’t smush or press down too hard when rolling out the biscuit dough. You want them to rise and create tall, beautiful layers. Smashing them down will prevent this.
If you don’t have rye, you’re welcome to omit it. These cheddar biscuits are still delicious without it, though you’ll be missing out on a great flavor combo.
Can You Freeze Biscuits?
Absolutely! Biscuits are the ultimate ‘make ahead’ brunch recipe because you can prep and cut the biscuits ahead of time, place them on a prepared baking sheet, then wrap in plastic wrap and freeze directly on there.
When ready to cook, you can make directly from frozen! Two things to note:
- You don’t want to brush the melted butter and rye on top before freezing. Instead, brush them onto frozen biscuit dough just before baking. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and black pepper, then pop ’em in the oven!
- You will need to add a few extra minutes to the cook time.
This is not only our favorite cheddar biscuit recipe, it’s our family’s most requested biscuits, period the end. So flaky, so cheesy, so unbelievably perfect and delicious!
It’s not a Sunday brunch without flaky biscuits, and these are the absolute best. Plus, the leftovers make one heck of a bacon egg and cheese sandwich, you know if you’re into that sort of thing… (we totally are!!).
If you make these Cheddar Biscuits recipe, please let us know by leaving a review below! We hope you love them as much as we do!
And make sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow along on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Facebook for more Well Seasoned recipes! DON’T FORGET to tag us on social channels when you make a recipe at #wellseasonedstudio !! We LOVE seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!
For more brunch ideas, check out the following:
- Mini blueberry muffins
- Creamy baked eggs with spring asparagus
- Peanut butter smoothie bowls
- How to create an epic bagel board
- Smoked salmon breakfast tacos
- Chicken and waffles
Sage and Cheddar Biscuits Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (very cold, diced)
- 1 Tbsp fresh sage (chopped)
- ½ cup white cheddar (grated)
- 1 cup buttermilk (very cold)
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter (melted)
- 1 Tbsp rye whiskey
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp maldon sea salt
- Honey (for serving)
- Room temperature butter (for serving)
Instructions
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Use a pastry cutter to cut in butter until pea-sized pieces form.
- Pour in chopped sage, grated cheddar, and buttermilk, mixing just until combined. Pour out onto a lightly floured surface and gently pat into a rectangle about 1” tall.
- Use a bench scraper to cut the dough into 4 equal rectangles, then carefully stack them on top of each other. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to gently roll out into a 1” tall square (the shape isn’t as important as keeping the height!).
- Cut into 12 biscuits, then carefully transfer to prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving about 2” between each. Place biscuits in freezer for 10-15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Combine melted butter in a small bowl with rye whiskey, then brush tops of biscuits. Sprinkle each biscuit with freshly ground black pepper and a few maldon sea salt flakes.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Serve with honey and butter.
Notes
- To freeze: prepare and cut out biscuits as directed, then transfer to a baking sheet, wrap in plastic wrap completely, and store in freezer until ready to bake. You don’t want to brush the melted butter and rye on top before freezing. Instead, brush them onto frozen biscuit dough just before baking. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and black pepper, then pop ’em in the oven!
- Cooking frozen biscuits will require adding a few extra minutes to the cook time.
- Nutrition facts calculated without honey and butter for serving (optional).
Nutrition
Photography by Marie of Sugar Salt Magic.
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Hi! At no point do you specify what you mean by “rye.” Do you mean rye flour or rye whiskey? Neither makes a whole lot of sense to me, but I want to know what flavor I’m missing before I omit.
Rye whiskey! Melted butter and rye are mixed together and brushed on top of the cooked biscuits. Def feel free to omit, butter is obviously a no-fail option for biscuits! xo, Ari
These are the best biscuits I’ve ever made or eaten. I brushed with honey before baking and my husband went CRAZY for them. The mix barely came together and the 4 rectangles were very crumbly but I think that’s what made them so shatteringly flakey. Absolutely fantastic recipe
Best ever!!! And yes, the biscuit dough just barely holds together. You might think that it’s going to fail, but that just means the flakiest texture ever!! Thank you thank you! xo, Ari
I think of Ari’s recipes as “easy luxury” – food that looks and tastes like it took you hours of prep and weeks of cooking classes to churn out but *secretly* (shhhh) comes together SO easily. These biscuits fit into this category.
The dough was a little intimidating just because it was so crumbly, but the biscuits puffed as promised and could not be more delicious. Make ’em!
This is quite possibly the nicest comment I have ever received. Thank you, Candace! The goal is definitely to feel like you’re splurging or treating yourself, without breaking your back. I’m so glad that comes across in my recipes and truly appreciate your support! And yes — biscuit dough can TOTALLY be intimidating, but damn is it worth it!! xo, Ari
Raw in the middle at 16 minutes. Trying another 8 minutes as we speak?
Having made these at least a dozen times, I fully stand behind this recipe, the oven temperature, and the timing. Did you come across any issues when making the biscuit dough? Or in shaping? I’d be happy to try and help you determine where things went wrong.