Preheat oven to 375°F with the rack in the middle position.
In a medium bowl, stir together dry ingredients to combine, then sift into a large bowl. Working quickly, use a box grater to grate the butter into the dry mixture. Toss butter by hand in dry mix to coat. Add milk, stirring until dough just comes together. Sprinkle mixture with apples and cheese, then pull dough together by hand, mixing cheese and apples into dough.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface, sprinkle with flour, and roll out to a rectangle. Fold dough into thirds. Roll out and repeat process 3 more times. To end, roll dough out into large rectangular shape.
Cut biscuits: Using a pizza cutter, cut the rectangle into 12 squares. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet. Transfer to oven, baking until biscuits puff up and turn golden brown, about 12-15 minutes.
Make butter glaze: While biscuits are baking, melt butter in a small pan. Stir in garlic powder and parsley.
Glaze biscuits: As soon as the biscuits come out of the oven, brush with butter glaze and serve immediately.
Apple-Cheddar Biscuits
Ingredients
2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
⅓ cup butter, frozen
⅔ cup whole milk
1 cup grated sharp Canadian cheddar
1 Honeycrisp apple, peeled, cored and grated
Butter glaze:
2 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F with the rack in the middle position.
In a medium bowl, stir together dry ingredients to combine, then sift into a large bowl. Working quickly, use a box grater to grate the butter into the dry mixture. Toss butter by hand in dry mix to coat. Add milk, stirring until dough just comes together. Sprinkle mixture with apples and cheese, then pull dough together by hand, mixing cheese and apples into dough.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface, sprinkle with flour, and roll out to a rectangle. Fold dough into thirds. Roll out and repeat process 3 more times. To end, roll dough out into large rectangular shape.
Cut biscuits: Using a pizza cutter, cut the rectangle into 12 squares. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet. Transfer to oven, baking until biscuits puff up and turn golden brown, about 12-15 minutes.
Make butter glaze: While biscuits are baking, melt butter in a small pan. Stir in garlic powder and parsley.
Glaze biscuits: As soon as the biscuits come out of the oven, brush with butter glaze and serve immediately.
Apple-Cheddar Biscuits
5 / 5. 1
Tender, flaky biscuits ribboned with Ontario apples and an aged Canadian cheddar cheese, topped with a garlic butter glaze…
Spoiler alert! These APPLE-CHEDDAR BISCUITS are the homemade biscuits you need to make!
Not only is this biscuit recipe easy to prepare, but the end result is also extremely flaky and exceeds all flavour expectations. With the unexpected addition of grated apple paired with a sharp cheese, these APPLE-CHEDDAR BISCUITS are a dream come true. Part two of that spoiler alert: everyone who tries them wants more than one. Consider doubling the recipe if you’re serving a hungry crowd.
Before we share a few tried-and-true tricks and suggestions on how to make these easy homemade biscuits, here’s a reminder: we’ve got other great baked good recipes we know you’ll enjoy too. If biscuits are your thing, make sure to try these BUTTERMILK BISCUITS, our HAM AND CHEESE DROP BISCUITS, and these FLAKY TEA BISCUITS. Two additional entries in this “calling all bakers list”: these CRANBERRY-ORANGE SCONES and our pumpkin spice-friendly PUMPKIN SCONES. Try ‘em all and get your bake on.
Here are some tips on making these APPLE-CHEDDAR BISCUITS:
INGREDIENTS
Looking at the above photo, you might think it looks like a lot of ingredients, but it’s deceiving. Some ingredients make two appearances, and many are baking essentials you probably already have. As with most biscuit recipes, there’s flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, granulated sugar, butter instead of lard, and in this case whole milk instead of buttermilk. We also boosted the flavour quotient by including garlic powder, cayenne pepper, cheese, apple, and parsley in the mix. You’ll have no problem sourcing any of those pantry staples. We do suggest having extra ingredients on hand because one taste and you’ll be making batches of biscuits often.
DRY INGREDIENTS
Three additional musings on the dry ingredients. First, we used unbleached all-purpose flour for this recipe, but regular white flour will work, as well as oat flour or whole wheat flour. The cayenne pepper can also be omitted if you or your guests have a sensitivity to heat. Final thing about the dry ingredients is to thoroughly combine everything by stirring, then sifting. I’ll explain why this is important down below.
DAIRY INGREDIENTS
Our APPLE-CHEDDAR BISCUITS recipe uses both whole milk and butter. Sure, you can make the recipe using 1% or 2% milk, but we found that full-fat, whole milk gives the biscuits a richer flavour. Oh, and about that butter—unsalted butter only, please. The recipe calls for 1/3 of a cup in the dough mix and an additional 2 tablespoons needed for a post-baking butter glaze. Note: make sure to pop the 1/3 cup of butter into the freezer beforehand. Why? I’ll explain why down below, too.
ONTARIO APPLES AND CHEDDAR
Like so many of our recipes, I first tested it out on friends. Having accepted an invitation to visit a friend’s cottage in Nova Scotia, I asked how I could help and was asked to look after the side dishes for a lobster dinner. A little internet sleuthing lead me to understand that biscuits are a perfect treat when served with a classic boiled lobster dinner. I brought a wedge of premium sharp Canadian cheddar with me, made cheese biscuits for the dinner, and instantly thought, “They’re delicious but need a little more.” Deciding to add apples to this biscuit dough mix is just the thing. As always, ONTARIO APPLES are my faves.
I crafted this recipe using HONEYCRISP apples. They’re extremely juicy, and during testing I discovered the need to add a bit more flour and a little less milk to compensate. This recipe has been modified to reflect that juicy varietal. If you’re using drier apples like Red Delicious or McIntosh, you may need to add extra milk into the biscuit dough.
HOW TO MAKE BISCUIT DOUGH
Here are the three key takeaways to always remember when baking homemade biscuits from scratch. First, sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl to break up any stubborn clumps and also aerate the flour. It distributes the leavening agents—baking powder and baking soda—evenly throughout, giving the biscuits a lighter texture. You’ll see when these biscuits bake, they puff up nice and high.
The next step is to grate the butter into the sifted flour mixture instead of pulsing it together in a food processor. Grating butter creates tiny, uniform strands of fat that melt in the oven. This doesn’t happen when using melted butter. As they melt, they produce steam, leaving behind air pockets for ultimate flakiness and a tender crumb. So why did we freeze the butter? Trust me, makes it way easier to grate. A little side tip about the grated cold butter: gently toss it into the dry mix by hand to coat. This, again, keeps the strands intact once the dough is stirred together.
The final tip for making this biscuit dough is to toss the cheese and grated apple about in the dry mix too. This once again distributes the butter, cheese, and apples evenly in the bowl before adding the milk. Pro tip: don’t stir too long. Use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to stir just enough to bring the dough together.
HOW TO SHAPE BISCUITS
Two key secrets to shaping biscuits. First is to roll the dough out to a large rectangle, then fold into thirds like a letter fold, as shown in the above photo. Turn the dough 90°, roll it back out, fold, and repeat. I repeated the roll, fold, and turn steps maybe five or six times. Why? This is what creates the layers that expand and puff up when the biscuits bake. Prepare to be amazed.
Also, ditch the knife, biscuit cutters, and bench scraper. When it comes to cutting biscuits, I recommend using a… pizza wheel? Yep. During testing, I noticed that a knife or bench scraper caused the sides to stick together and the biscuit rose wonky with a short side. Using a round biscuit cutter left loose bits and cutaways that then need to be gathered together, and those biscuits never rise. The pizza wheel allows for purposeful, clean cuts and straight edges.
SCRAPS
“Hi, my name’s Nik, and I’m a perfectionist.” LOL! So there I was after cutting the 12 biscuits, looking down and thinking, “But what about the outside edges? They haven’t been cut!” Cue the dramatic music. Anyway, I decided to cut those exterior edges, and yes, there are a few scraps. Here’s the happy ending: the biscuits all rose perfectly, no weird wonky edges.
HOW TO BAKE BISCUITS
Baking biscuits requires no special direction. Simply transfer the biscuits to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, spacing them out evenly. Then transfer them straight to the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, less if your oven is set to convection. The goal here is a rich golden brown colour; you should see those flaky layers dotted with melted cheese and apple once the biscuits puff up.
GARLIC BUTTER GLAZE
This little bonus flavour enhancement came to me as we were planning the recipe. I’ve made biscuits and scones where I brush the top with milk or eggs before baking. That got me thinking: what if I brushed them with butter when they come out? Better still, let’s add garlic into the mix along with some chopped parsley to add a pop of flavour and colour. Brilliant!
Do not skip that final step. Soon as you bring them out of the oven, give them a generous swipe and you’re done.
ENJOY!
Speaking from experience, serve these biscuits with that boiled lobster dinner. Need more ideas? Try them with these STEAMED MUSSELS, our famous CIOPPINO FISHERMAN’S STEW, or this SEAFOOD CHOWDER. They’re not just for fish and seafood either. Try them with our BEEF STEW, HOMEMADE CHILI, or one of our popular soup recipes from this SOUPS & STEWS COLLECTION. Just so you know, they’re also incredible fresh from the oven with a swipe of homemade jam.
PIN IT!
Before you head off to prepare this must-make baked goods recipe, a reminder to save it for future reference. Click that BOOKMARK tab at the top of your browser and also PIN it to one of your PINTEREST boards for easy access. Good idea to also forward it to friends; everyone loves a tasty, healthy salad recipe, no?
Here’s how to make flaky APPLE-CHEDDAR BISCUITS like a pro. Get to it!
Cook Mode Use cook mode to keep your screen on while cooking.
Ingredients
2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
⅓ cup butter, frozen
⅔ cup whole milk
1 cup grated sharp Canadian cheddar
1 Honeycrisp apple, peeled, cored and grated
Butter glaze:
2 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F with the rack in the middle position.
In a medium bowl, stir together dry ingredients to combine, then sift into a large bowl. Working quickly, use a box grater to grate the butter into the dry mixture. Toss butter by hand in dry mix to coat. Add milk, stirring until dough just comes together. Sprinkle mixture with apples and cheese, then pull dough together by hand, mixing cheese and apples into dough.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface, sprinkle with flour, and roll out to a rectangle. Fold dough into thirds. Roll out and repeat process 3 more times. To end, roll dough out into large rectangular shape.
Cut biscuits: Using a pizza cutter, cut the rectangle into 12 squares. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet. Transfer to oven, baking until biscuits puff up and turn golden brown, about 12-15 minutes.
Make butter glaze: While biscuits are baking, melt butter in a small pan. Stir in garlic powder and parsley.
Glaze biscuits: As soon as the biscuits come out of the oven, brush with butter glaze and serve immediately.
Until Thanksgiving
