Two-Bite Parmesan Biscuits

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These biscuits are baked on a bed of grated Parmesan cheese, resulting in a crispy, cheesy crust around the bottom of each biscuit. Perfect on their own, try them drizzled with a bit of honey, or improvise by tossing a few handfuls of fresh thyme or chives into the dough to take them over the top. The dough can be prepped and frozen, making these an easy addition to a festive bread basket or for sandwiching a holiday ham. Keeping biscuit ingredients and dough extra cold ensures the loftiest rise.

Two-Bite Parmesan Biscuits
Photo: Caitlin Bensel
Active Time:
20 mins
Total Time:
45 mins
Yield:
8 to 10
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Ingredients

  • 1 (6 1/4-ounces) Parmesan cheese wedge

  • 3 cups self-rising flour (such as White Lily) (about 12 3/4 ounces), sifted, plus more for work surface

  • 1 tablespoons granulated sugar

  • 1 teaspoon black pepper, plus more for sprinkling

  • 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter (6 ounces), cut into 1/2-inch pieces

  • 1 cup cold buttermilk

  • 1 large egg, beaten

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Break cheese into large chunks; transfer to a food processor, and pulse until coarsely ground, 16 to 20 times. (You should have a little over 12/3 cups ground cheese.) Reserve 2 tablespoons cheese.

  2. Stir together flour, sugar, pepper, and 1 cup ground cheese in a large bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture using a pastry blender or your fingers until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk until a shaggy dough forms.

  3. Transfer dough to a floured work surface. Pat into a 1-inch-thick rectangle, and cut into quarters; stack quarters on top of each other. (Dough will be crumbly at first but will come together as you work.) Pat stacked dough back into a rectangle. Repeat cutting and stacking 2 more times. Roll or pat dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle (about 8 1/2 x 10 inches). Cut rounds out of dough using a 11/2-inch round cutter, pressing straight down, without twisting cutter. (You’ll have about 35 biscuits; discard dough scraps.)

  4. Sprinkle 2/3 cup ground cheese in a 12- x 8-inch rectangle on prepared baking sheet. Arrange biscuits 1/2 inch apart on cheese. Freeze 10 minutes. Remove from freezer; brush biscuit tops evenly with egg. Sprinkle lightly with pepper and reserved 2 tablespoons ground cheese.

  5. Bake in preheated oven until biscuits are golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Serve warm, or let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Make Ahead

Biscuits can be prepared through step 3 and frozen up to 3 months. Let thaw 30 minutes; proceed with step 4, skipping the 10-minute freezing time.

Originally appeared: December 2019

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