Cheddar Scallion Buttermilk Biscuits

These. Biscuits. Oh. My. God. They have changed my life. Red Lobster? Forget about her. She’s an ex girlfriend now. And these biscuits, they are your soulmate.

what you need:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, COLD, and cut into cubes
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for kneading
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped scallions

what you need to do:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a pan with butter and set aside. I used a cast iron but any kind of metal pan works great! I would stay away from glass or porcelain though.
• In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. Add the COLD butter cubes, and toss in the flour. Now, using your fingers, pinch each cube and flatten it. We are “cutting” the butter into the flour. Continue to pinch the butter until you have pinched every cube.
• Now, still with your fingers, go through and rub the butter pieces into the flour. My method: I press my four long fingers together and use my thumb to rub the butter into my fingers to break it up. Continue to do this until there are some large pieces and some pea sized pieces. You want a nice variation of chunks and small pieces so that the flaky layers form.
• Add in the cheese and scallions and mix. Now, slowly, add in your buttermilk. I add about half at first and then splash some in as I go, as sometimes you don’t need the full cup just depending on your flour. Stir to mix with a wooden spoon, it will be fairly thick and sticky. Mix slow, adding the splashes of milk as you go, stopping once the dough has formed into a cohesive ball and you can gently form it into a ball. You may or may not use all of the buttermilk, but use your best judgement.
• Flip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead it to form a ball, do not overdo this or the layers will not form. You just want to gently press it together so it all sticks and forms one big dough ball, it does not take much work.
• Roll the dough into a 1/2 inch square, and then fold in half like a book. Press it down gently to mush the layers together.
• Roll the folded piece out into a rectangle, and then fold the bottom in to meet the middle, and then fold the top down to meet the bottom folded edge, forming 3 layers.
• Now roll this folded piece into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. What we just did, was fold over to create LAYERS!
• Cut biscuits into squares or circles, your preference, and place in bottom of your greased pan, about 1/2 inch apart. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
• Bake in preheated oven for 12 – 16 minutes, stopping to check on them at 12 minutes and then adding 2 minutes at a time until the tops are golden brown.
• When they come out of the oven, quickly baste the tops with the melted butter until you have used it all. You can go over them a few times with the butter, there is NO SUCH THING as too much butter.
• Best served warm on the day of baking.
• Note: if you want plain biscuits, omit: pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cheddar, and scallions.