Half batch of Cheddar Bay Biscuits

The other night I made these biscuits to go with Ellen's (from my favourite blog - Mennonite Girls Can Cook) Chicken Zharkovia. If you've never made these biscuits - you must!
These biscuits go well with stews and seafood dinners.
They are addictive - be warned!

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

These recipes are adapted from a http://chickensintheroad.com/ recipe:

2 ½ Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

2 tsp. sugar

½ tsp. cream of tartar

¼ tsp. salt

*Note – if using Homemade Quick Mix as in recipe below, replace first 5 ingredients with 2 ½ Cups baking mix.

¼ tsp. ground cayenne pepper

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ Cup butter – cold

1 ¼ Cups grated cheddar cheese

½ Cup sour cream

1 ¼ Cups milk

Place first 5 ingredients or Quick Mix in a large bowl.  Add cayenne pepper and garlic powder.  Work in the butter with a pastry blender.  Stir in the cheese and then add the sour cream and milk.  Scoop the biscuit dough out by big spoonsful (approx. 20)  and drop into a greased 9 X 13 baking dish.

Topping:

6 Tbsp. butter – melted

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. parsley

Dash of salt

Melt butter.  Stir in garlic powder, parsley, and salt.  Spoon half of topping over unbaked biscuits.  Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.  After removing biscuits from the oven, spoon the remaining topping over them.

Note - I often make a half batch of these since there usually are only two of us eating them!

Homemade Quick Mix

Make your own quick mix!  It’s as fast and easy as using store bought Bisquick – only better because it’s homemade.

5 Cups all-purpose Flour (may substitute 1-2 Cups whole grain flour as part of the mix)

¼ Cup sugar

¼ Cup Baking Powder

1¼ tsps. Cream of tartar

1 tsp. salt

Combine in a large bowl – I use a whisk to blend the ingredients well.  I like to make this mix in 5 Cup batches because that fits easily into my mixing bowl – you can double or triple this recipe as well.  Store as you would flour, in an airtight container/canister.  If you expect to be storing it for an extended period (months), you may wish to put into baggies and freeze.

How to use:  Per 1 Cup Quick Mix – cut in ¼ Cup shortening or butter and add 1/3 Cup milk or buttermilk.  Knead dough lightly, roll out on floured surface and cut into desired shapes.  Bake at 450 F for 10-12 minutes.  Or, use unrolled dough to drop into boiling soup for dumplings.

Till next time........the weekend is just around the corner - can you see it?