Cheesy Pumpkin Buttermilk Biscuits
Cheesy Pumpkin Buttermilk Biscuits
Fluffy, flakey biscuits with a yummy pumpkin flavor, make this biscuit recipe the best for fall! Cheese and cayenne pepper add a wonderful savory taste sensation. Serve with soup, stew or as a breakfast baked good... they are the perfect accompaniment to any meal… especially your turkey dinner!
Cheesy Pumpkin Buttermilk Biscuits
Yield: 9 – 10 biscuits
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup pumpkin purée
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice)
1/2 cup butter, cold and cubed
Extra flour for kneading/ rolling
Milk for brushing
Equipment Needed:
Dry measuring cups
2 cup liquid measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Fork or small wire whisk
Paring knife
Medium mixing bowl
Pastry blender
Rubber spatula
Biscuit cutter
Pastry brush
Half baking sheet pan
Parchment paper
These biscuits are such a yummy variation to serve this fall with any meal! I made a large pot of soup and served these along side... leftover biscuits made nice little breakfast sandwiches too. Super easy preparation too enables you to prepare and bake in under an hour. If you delete pumpkin and cayenne pepper, you can make plain cheese biscuits too!
I usually prep the pan first so I can place the biscuits on the pan right away. Placing parchment paper will help prevent burning of the bottoms as your biscuits become golden brown on top!
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Biscuits are a form of quick bread so dry ingredients and wet ingredients will be mixed separately and then combined.
1) Start by placing flour, 1⁄2 cup of cheddar cheese, baking powder, salt and cayenne pepper in a medium mixing bowl. Use a pastry blender to mix dry ingredients and chop cheese into flour. Using a paring knife, cut stick of butter into smaller cubes. Place on top of dry mixture and using pastry blender, cut butter into dry ingredients.
2) Continue cutting butter in until mixture resembles course cornmeal or chunks are smaller than pea-size, as shown above. If you own a food processor, you can cut butter and dry ingredients together by pulsing 4 – 5 times and creating the same result as a pastry blender with less effort. Be careful not to mix too much and create a smooth dough. Butter needs to remain cold and crumble with the flour.
Next for the wet ingredients!
3) In a 2 cup measuring cup (or small bowl), combine buttermilk, pumpkin purée and sugar. Mix well with fork or small wire whisk. Make a small well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in pumpkin mixture. Use a rubber spatula to ensure you get every drop of the wet ingredients and yummy pumpkin flavor.
Now for the rolling…
4) Using the pastry blender, combine dry and wet ingredients until they start to pull together into a ball. Mixture will appear crumbly, as shown above. Don’t be tempted to mix until smooth or your biscuits will be compact, hockey pucks. (If using a food processor, add wet to dry in processor and pulse a few times until mixture starts to ball together.) I prefer using a pastry blender as I don’t want to over-mix my biscuits.
5) After dough is mixed, gather dough and place onto floured surface. Knead ball of dough with floured hands, about 5 – 6 times and fragments of dough hold together. Dough will be sticky, so adding flour to hands will help. Don’t be tempted to knead too much to create a perfect ball. Dough will be bumpy and irregular.
6) After kneading, gently pat dough into round circle or disk about 1 1⁄2 inches thick... about the thickness of your biscuit cutter or slightly thicker.
Now it’s time to make and pan the biscuits!
7) Dip biscuit cutter into excess flour and press into dough close to the edge of the circle. Goal here is to cut biscuits with little waste, so cut one biscuit as close to the others as possible. I usually get about six from the first cutting. Gently twist biscuit cutter as you cut and remove each biscuit. Place biscuits on prepared pan with them barely touching. This allows them to rise up instead of out, giving better volume. Gently gather remaining cut dough together and form another round disk. Cut more biscuits.
8) Last bit of waste can make the last biscuit depending on amount left. Sometimes I add a little leftover dough to bottom of a few biscuits that seem smaller. You should get about 9 – 10 biscuits depending on thickness of dough disk.
9) Gently press and indent each biscuit with your fingers to allow biscuits to remain flat on top as they rise. Using a pastry brush, brush each round with a little milk and sprinkle each with 1⁄4 cup leftover cheddar cheese.
Baking time…
10) Place biscuits on center rack of a preheated 400 F oven and bake for 17 – 20 minutes, depending on your oven. Some ovens run a bit hot, so set timer first for 17 minutes and add minutes as needed. Biscuits will be golden brown on top and bottoms, with cheese melted on top. Be careful not to burn the cheese as you wait for biscuits to brown. To split the biscuits for serving, use your fingers or a fork to separate, not a knife. Prying them in half instead of cutting, maintains the fluffy, flakey texture. Add butter... Enjoy!