It’s Friday. I know you weren’t expecting this, but it’s time for a Pop Quiz.
Don’t worry. If you’ve done the reading this should be easy… (I hated when teachers would say that to me).
Pop Quiz
1) True or False: The joining of chocolate and coffee is like a cosmic combination of all that is good, just, and rock and roll in the universe.
2) Fill in the Blank: Breakfast is the most _________________ .
3) Multiple Choice: The best choice for this weekend’s breakfast treat is:
a) stale Cheerios.
b) Gerard Butler and hot fudge sauce.
c) breakfast sandwiches made on Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits.
Now… here are the answers:
1) True….. duh! 2) Breakfast is the most important meal that ever was. 3) c… if and only if b is unavailable.
Perfect score? We’re best friends. Take note.
Breakfast. Be still my heart. I love you breakfast.
The combination of cheddar with buttery biscuits is divine. Add a little kick of black pepper and holy yum! These biscuits are made with both all-purpose and whole wheat flour. I like the nuttiness of whole wheat flour. Now you know. The combination results in a dense but buttery and delicious biscuit. They’re the perfect holder of turkey bacon and a fried egg. Make a sandwich. Dooooo it!
Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits
makes 10 to 12 biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour (use all-purpose if you don’t have whole wheat)
2 Tablespoons sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, cold and cut into cubes
1/4 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk, cold
3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
a touch of heavy cream and black pepper for topping the biscuits before baking
In a mixing bowl, sift together flours, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt. Cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the cheddar and black pepper and toss to combine. In another bowl, combine egg and milk and beat lightly with a fork. Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring enough to make a soft dough.
Turn out onto a floured board and knead about 15 times. Roll or pat out into a 1-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter or cut into 2×2-inch squares. Reshape and roll dough to create more biscuits with excess scraps. Brush tops with a bit of heavy cream and a sprinkle of fresh ground black pepper. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes. Serve immediately with softened butter or top with bacon and a fried egg as breakfast sandwiches.
{ 144 comments… read them below or add one }
So delicious!! Wonderful plate!!
We made something like this, although called them cheese scones this week and have been enjoying them for breakfast – unfortunately Gerard Butler and hot fudge sauce was unavailable – there’s always hope for the weekend though.
Jade
always always hope!
Like jade this makes so much more sense when these little beauties are called scones! I thought you wanted to make a bacon sandwich out of savoury cookies which was kind of weird, possibly delicious, but definitely weird.
Ooo… yum! I have a black-pepper-cheddar-scallion beer bread on my site that reminds me of these beauties! Wonderful pics! I simply adore your plates!
I was just thinking of biscuits last night…Mmmm these look amazing!
Turkey bacon? That pretender to the holiest of holies, that challenger to the throne, that usurper that dares to unseat the King of Meats!
Really Joy, I expected better from you.
oooh dearest and most darling mike… please don’t question my love of pork bacon. that would be a bad idea. that would mean that we have to fight.
i love pork bacon. i’m pretty sure that bacon is the perfect food because i have not yet found a more perfect food. bacon. i’m in love with bacon.
now… turkey bacon. it’s not the outrage you might think. have you ever had the turkey bacon from trader joe’s? it’s delicious. it’s real meat. it’s not full of nitrates and weird fake flavors.
the best part is… it keeps my thighs skinny-ish. i need to keep my thighs skinny-ish. i’m afraid that means not eating pork bacon every time i want to.
you might not understand this. i do. my thighs thank me.
and geeez! please don’t be so disappointed in me! i’m sensitive.
Now I feel bad :-( I don’t want us to fight!
Turkey bacon isn’t so common over here in the UK so maybe that’s from where my instant aversion to it stems… our bacon differs from American bacon too; I think as a whole it’s meatier and less fatty – but still delicous with that sweet-yet-salty cured and smokey pork flavour! Nom.
And anyway, I do understand why your thighs would thank you; maybe I’ll keep my mind open when it comes to turkey ‘bacon’ in the future. But I won’t sanction beef ‘bacon’ – that stuff is just plain wrong.
Hey there Best Friend! :D I want that breakfast sandwich so badly!
Oh my goodness you make me laugh. So much. There’s so much Joy (joy) coming out of this blog, and it makes me happy. Thanks for always brightening my day. And for managing to tie in Gerard Butler. That always helps things.
This involves two of my favorite foods! Cheese & Bread!
Oh, these are wildly exciting. I can’t wait for the weekend. I’ll make them for breakfast and my family will cheer!
Joy, we think alike. And I like that. Perhaps it means that I need to relocate to California. The midwest doesn’t hold a lot of thinkers like myself. And we definitely don’t have beaches here. Just cold rainy weather, and a lot of republicans. For real. :-)
Joy, I’m with Mike. Turkey Bacon? These beauties deserve not just the real thing, but also the best bacon–you know that stuff they sell at the farmer’s market that costs like $5/pound.
Okay, now I’m sad. I’m imagining the flavor combination of biscuits and that bacon…and I’m stuck at work. Gah!
i hate when people get mad at me about bacon.
it’s weird.
hurrah for breakfast!!! gerard butler and biscuits!
I’d always go for breakfast as my favorite meal of the day, until brunch came along. Any meal where I can eat sweet, savory, breakfast, dessert, and alcohol is a meal that I want to be a part of. But these definitely put breakfast in the running.
What a wonderful way to start the weekend! They look DIVINE! I am way into breakfast at any time of the day. These savory biscuits would bw wonderful for a brunch or maybe with some avacado and fried egg??? Thanks again for being so awesome and inspiring us to do things we didn’t think we could!
I bet these would be awesome with sausage gravy!
Does anyone else ever do that? Sandwich a biscuit with some fried eggs and sausage and smother it with gravy?
It’s a heart attack on a plate..but it’s such a dee-licious heart attack!
just the most delicious heart attack ever! sounds waaay too good to be true.
Yummilicious! I love the combination of cheddar & pepper…wholewheat makes it even better! WOW! Beautiful post!
I love biscuits, but I’ve never made my own. I’ve been meaning to, and now I know which recipe I want to try!
Great photos! Now I want to make them! I love anything with pepper in it!
You can’t have Gerard Butler. He’s mine. I have him tied to the bed currently… Later he’ll be feeding me these biscuits.
:)
i’ll be right over.
These look yummy – I mean, Yum, Meeeee!
And though I won’t disagree that Gerard Butler would make a great meal, my heart still has this little spot for Kevin Costner. How weird is that? Think, Revenge -Costner. Bodyguard – Costner. Yummy.
I HAVE to make these. That’s all I can say.
B e a uuutiful! These look delish! They would look even more delish if Gerard Butler was serving them… Covered in hot fudge sauce.
oh Yum! What a perfect way to start the day :)
Okay, so I tried to make buttermilk biscuits a bit ago, and it went okay, but they turned out kinda flat. I think I made the dough too thin when I was cutting them. I have a question though, I have used two knives to cut the butter and shortening into the flour, but I’m wondering if I could use my wire whisk and get better/faster results? I don’t want to buy a pastry cutter just to make biscuits once in a blue moon. Thanks!
hey amy,
i don’t think a wire whisk will give you the results you want. i agree, using two knives is kinda annoying. i just use my clean hands and work fast to incorporate the butter, shortening and flour so the fats don’t get too warm from my hands. go with your hands… it’s the easiest!
also..
leave the dough pretty thick. 1-(generous) inch thick… then cup them into biscuits. flat biscuits kinda suck.
hope this helps!
Yay, we’re best friends! I will definitely be making these for a DEElicious Saturday morning breakfast….thanks!
Also, Gerard Butler=hot hottie hot. Don’t tell my boyfriend!
And why not prosciutto crudo inside those delightful trasures?
XXX
delicious!
yum! open a drive-thru selling these so i can grab one on my way to work!
They seem Great, it just make my mouth salivating!
I might need to make these this weekend
We are officially total BFFs. For real.
AND black pepper makes just about everything better.
Thanks!
Joy,
I don’t know how you find the time to post so frequently about such amazing looking recipes but don’t stop! I love your blog and it always cheers me up to read your latest post and contemplate the yummy goodies.
Thanks a mill!
oh… oh my! I think I might actually have to drag my butt out of bead before 8am this weekend to make these (and yes, that’s sleeping in for me).
If I weren’t sitting here eating a hunk of Cardamom Crumb Cake,(Dorie Greenspan’s), I’d be in the kitchen cranking these out. There’s always tomorrow! Yet another reason to adore you…
These look fabulous, and I just might end up making them this weekend. But…. I have to agree with the others who were opposed to the turkey bacon. *YUCK* I’ve eaten it once in my life ever and thought it just tasted like a flat bland piece of turkey lunch meat that was fried for too long. Real bacon on mine please!!
And for those that were talking about the gravy on them, my hubby’s family does that sometimes. Although it’s just usually with plain biscuits, not ones that have been made into a sandwich already. But I’m sure that if I make the gravy for them they won’t hesitate to pour it on xD
yeesh! bacon! no more yelling about bacon! :)
My hubs will love these! Congrats on your nomination! Well deserved indeed!
Ok, yes we are best friends…..lol….I MUST make these today! I’m drooling at the thought! Thanks so much for the recipe….will let you know how I do! :)
Wow, those look amazing! My husband will be happy that I found this recipe. And I love that it has wheat flour in it.
HA! My daughters and I had a good laugh over the original Gerard Butler and hot fudge sauce post – then promptly went and made the hot fudge (yum!!).
These look delicious. Gonna try them out this weekend.
Here I am drinking my smoothie, and you make this flipping delicious looking biscuits. Do you think I can pretend that my smoothie is cheddar black pepper biscuit flavored?? Yeaaaaaah, maybe not. This weekend I know what I’ll be doing :-)
are you sure you don’t have a twin and were separated at birth? if you are not sure, i think i am that twin!! seriously we are so alike in our thinking it’s uncanny!! love, no LOVE all your stuff, i’m going to look for B&B’s for sale this weekend so I can buy one and start making stuff for the weekenders, would be so awesome!!
awe we twins!? that would be awesome! i could use a twin partner in crime!
First time i’ve aced a pop quiz!! LOL. Those biscuits (I’d call them scones) look lovely!! I might just have to try them one day…
And now, I am going to go buy a biscuit cutter.
I might just have to try this recipe this wknd! I’m always looking for new ways to have my usual “biscuit, eggs, & bacon” breakfast!
Ugh I could go for biscuits right now. Red lobster or homemade? I’ll go with home made.
ah, i make cheddar jalapeno biscuits but this is a great idea for when i don’t have fresh jalapenos on hand. looove black pepper!
Joy, I recently discovered your blog, and I am in love. Your writing and photographs are beautiful. (The recipes are pretty great too!)
Quick question about this recipe:
Can butter (or anything else) be substituted for the shortening? I never bake with it, but I’d love to try these biscuits. Thanks!
go with all butter!
First of all TOTALLY backing you up on the TJ’s Turkey Bacon – YUM-MERS!
Secondly this post is hilarious and I can’t wait to make these :)
My Husband has been begging me to make him biscuits for a couple weeks… I think I’ll make him these.
Deliciousness!!! Every breakfast should be that yummy! I always do plain biscuits…you’re inspiring me to try something new!!!
{ 16 trackbacks }