Bacon, Cheddar & Chive Biscuits are a homemade treat for any meal of the day, best served piping hot.
A rich, buttery biscuit is something I have a hard time saying no to. Piping hot biscuits are a good complement to most anything in my opinion: a Sunday roast, a breakfast buffet, or just a simple cup of coffee. Keith has his own recipe, rooted in the days when he cooked for a living, and he will usually make them for me if I ask nicely. But our appreciation for homemade biscuits reached a whole new level during a recent visit to Savannah.
Keith and I visited (and fell in love with) Savannah, Georgia for a friend’s wedding. In our restaurant research before our trip, one name kept appearing and reappearing more than most: Mrs. Wilkes. Determined not to miss out on this famous Savannah institution, we made our friends stand in line for over an hour to partake in Mrs. Wilkes’ famous southern fare. Suffice it to say that the wait was worth it. A meal at Mrs. Wilkes is on par with the best Sunday dinner I have ever eaten, a true home cooked meal with all the sides, shared at a communal table with strangers that instantly feel like friends. Food does have a way of bringing people together.
We couldn’t leave that town without a copy of Mrs. Wilkes’ Boardinghouse Cookbook, and one of the first things we had to try was her Boardinghouse-Style Biscuits. Keith now uses this recipe as his go-to biscuit favorite, although he still likes to make them with biscuit cutters, rather than in a pan. These Bacon, Cheddar & Chive Biscuits start with her recipe, adding a superman cooks style twist. I can’t imagine anything better than these, fresh out of the oven with a pat of butter.
- 2 C All Purpose flour
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp shortening
- 2 Tbsp butter
- ⅓ C buttermilk
- ⅓ C whole milk
- 2 slices bacon, cooked crisp and chopped
- ¾ C shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 Tbsp chives
- Preheat oven to 450°. Sift the flour, baking powder and sugar into a bowl. Add shortening and butter and cut (using a dough cutter or two butter knives) until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
- Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in buttermilk and milk. Mix lightly and quickly with your hands to form a dough to pull away from sides of bowl.
- Turn onto floured surface and top dough with bacon, cheese and chives.
- Knead dough by folding dough over itself and pressing down.
- Turn dough ½ turn and repeat 6-7 times until dry.
- Roll out until dough is ½ in thick. Using a 3 inch biscuit cutter, cut biscuits and re-roll dough until all biscuits are cut.
- Place biscuits onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place in oven. Turn oven temperature down to 400° and bake about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove form oven and spread tops of biscuits with melted butter (optional).
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