North Carolina Cheese Biscuits
By Christie MorrisonPublished on April 18, 2017
Time
1 hour
Yield
Makes 6 biscuits
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Look for sharp or mild yellow cheddar cheese; extra-sharp cheddar doesn’t melt as smoothly. The biscuit dough will be very wet and soft. Keep your hands well floured and don’t be afraid to sprinkle extra flour on the biscuits to keep them from sticking. To keep the biscuits tender and prevent overbrowning, use a light-colored cake pan; our favorite is the Nordic Ware Naturals Nonstick 9-Inch Round Cake Pan.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees. Grease light-colored 9-inch round cake pan. Working with 1/3 cup cheese, use your hands to squeeze cheese tightly into firm ball. Repeat with remaining cheese to form 5 more balls; set cheese balls aside.
- Pulse 2 1/2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in food processor until combined, about 6 pulses. Add chilled butter and pulse until mixture resembles pebbly, coarse cornmeal, 8 to 10 pulses. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Stir in buttermilk until just combined. (Dough will be very wet and slightly lumpy.)
- Spread remaining 1 cup flour in rimmed baking sheet. Using greased 1/2-cup dry measuring cup, transfer 6 portions of dough to prepared sheet. Dust top of each portion with flour from sheet.
- Using your well-floured hands, gently flatten 1 portion of dough into 3 1/2-inch circle and coat with flour. Pick up dough and place 1 cheese ball in center. Gently pull edges of dough over cheese to enclose and pinch together to seal. Shake off excess flour and transfer to prepared pan. Repeat with remaining dough and cheese, placing 5 biscuits around edge of pan and one in center. (Biscuits will be soft and will spread slightly as they sit.)
- Brush biscuit tops with melted butter. Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 450 degrees. Continue to bake until biscuits are deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes longer. Let biscuits cool in pan for 2 minutes, then invert onto plate. Break biscuits apart and turn right side up. Let cool for 5 minutes; serve warm.
Time
1 hourYield
Makes 6 biscuitsIngredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
The biscuits found in the region around Rocky Mount, North Carolina, are “big as a cat’s head” and stuffed with molten, gooey hoop cheese, a yellow cheese common in the area. This recipe is inspired by the versions we tried at Flo's Kitchen and Mom's Grill; read about our visit here. The biscuits are fluffy rather than flaky. To achieve this texture in our version, we pulsed chilled butter and flour until the mixture resembled crumbly cornmeal and then added twice the usual amount of buttermilk to create a wetter dough that produced more steam when baked, leading to a higher rise and more fluffiness in the biscuits. We liked yellow sharp cheddar (in place of the hard-to-find hoop cheese) for its tangy flavor and meltability. To get the cheese into the center of each biscuit, we squeezed the shredded cheese into a ball, placed the ball in the center of a slightly flattened circle of dough, and gently pulled the circle’s edges up and around the cheese to seal it inside. Baking the biscuits in a round cake pan gave them structure and kept the cheese from escaping.
Before You Begin
Look for sharp or mild yellow cheddar cheese; extra-sharp cheddar doesn’t melt as smoothly. The biscuit dough will be very wet and soft. Keep your hands well floured and don’t be afraid to sprinkle extra flour on the biscuits to keep them from sticking. To keep the biscuits tender and prevent overbrowning, use a light-colored cake pan; our favorite is the Nordic Ware Naturals Nonstick 9-Inch Round Cake Pan.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees. Grease light-colored 9-inch round cake pan. Working with 1/3 cup cheese, use your hands to squeeze cheese tightly into firm ball. Repeat with remaining cheese to form 5 more balls; set cheese balls aside.
- Pulse 2 1/2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in food processor until combined, about 6 pulses. Add chilled butter and pulse until mixture resembles pebbly, coarse cornmeal, 8 to 10 pulses. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Stir in buttermilk until just combined. (Dough will be very wet and slightly lumpy.)
- Spread remaining 1 cup flour in rimmed baking sheet. Using greased 1/2-cup dry measuring cup, transfer 6 portions of dough to prepared sheet. Dust top of each portion with flour from sheet.
- Using your well-floured hands, gently flatten 1 portion of dough into 3 1/2-inch circle and coat with flour. Pick up dough and place 1 cheese ball in center. Gently pull edges of dough over cheese to enclose and pinch together to seal. Shake off excess flour and transfer to prepared pan. Repeat with remaining dough and cheese, placing 5 biscuits around edge of pan and one in center. (Biscuits will be soft and will spread slightly as they sit.)
- Brush biscuit tops with melted butter. Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 450 degrees. Continue to bake until biscuits are deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes longer. Let biscuits cool in pan for 2 minutes, then invert onto plate. Break biscuits apart and turn right side up. Let cool for 5 minutes; serve warm.
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