A Tisket a Tasket a Biscuit in a Basket

Tea Biscuits.

I have an affinity for a certain kind of tea biscuit. One that I always post pictures of on my Instagram account that either has friends jumping into the kitchen to make their own, or people asking me for the recipe that I use.

So for those of you who have asked for the recipe today, I am making good on my promise to get off my butt and post this much loved recipe.

This is a variation of the Canadian Living Cheese Tea Biscuit recipe and I've just thrown some add ins to it.

2 1/4 cup of flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt (I usually skip this because I buy salted butter, up to you)
1/2 cup cold butter
1 cup old cheddar (or whatever cheese your prefer)
1 cup of milk





Add ins of your choice 
bacon
chives
ham
rosemary
whatever floats your boat


Combine flour baking powder and salt (if using) into a large mixing bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly.

There are a few ways to make this 'crumbly' that the recipe is talking about. One was is with a pastry cutter and some elbow grease and mash away. Another is to use your kitchen aid mixed with the paddle attachment and just stir in the butter until you're crumbly or there is a kind of time consuming way that I prefer which is to just rub the butter and flour mixture between your fingers until the aforementioned crumbly has happened. 

Moving on.

Stir in cheese

Pour milk over top of flour mixture and stir with a fork until sticky and ragged.

On a lightly floured surface kneed the dough about 8 to 10 times. (not too much because we want to keep the butter cold so the biscuits can be nice and flaky)

This is when I usually add the bacon or chives. I gently kneed the bacon in until it's incorporated through.

Pat or roll the dough until it's about an 1" to an 1" 1/4 thickness depending on how thick you want the biscuits to be. Cut your biscuits out with a circle cutter or a soup can, whatever you have on hand.

Arrange on a parchment lined baking pan. I like to group mine together, you can also cook them an inch or so apart if you like.

Bake at 425 degrees F  for 15 minutes

I usually make a double batch and depending on who is asking for biscuits I may make a few variations so everyone is happy. Or I will freeze the extras.

If you are going to make extra and freeze them, which I highly recommend you can just toss the baked biscuits in a freezer bag and freeze them for up to 3 months. When you're hankering for a treat take them out of the freezer, let them thaw and toss them in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes. A good friend of mine told me to put a dab of butter on the top of each biscuit before putting them back in the oven (Thanks Kristina). You should do it too!

Okay now your turn! I want to see your biscuits! (hee hee)

I'll show you mine 

If you show me yours!