February 1, 2016

Savory Cheese Biscuits

Here's another successful "Baking Without Baking Powder" experiment. This one uses pickle juice with baking soda for the leavening.

Savory Cheese Biscuits


2 cups flour
1 & 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup rendered chicken fat (or palm shortening)
1 cup milk (for drop biscuits - for rolled & cut biscuits use 2/3 C milk)
1 tbsp dill pickle juice
1 cup shredded cheese
1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix flour, soda, salt, mustard, and pepper. Cut shortening into flour mixture. Add milk and pickle juice, and mix enough to moisten all ingredients. Fold in shredded cheese and drop (or roll and cut) onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 425°F (218°C) for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

These rose beautifully too!

I used homemade pickle juice and my own goat cheese. Yummy!

Savory Cheese Biscuits © February 2016 by

28 comments:

Gill - That British Woman said...

they look so good, don't have pickle juice though?

Quinn said...

Three of my favorite food-words!

Ed said...

My mouth is actually watering right now!

Leigh said...

No problem! You can use any kind of vinegar or even lemon juice. :)

Leigh said...

And all in one food item. A winner!

Leigh said...

Mine too, LOL. Those didn't last long so it must be time for another batch.

kymber said...

thank you for taking a pic of the inside of the biscuits...actually, i take that back! i wish that you hadn't have taken a pic of the inside...i'm drooling all over myself!

beautiful biscuits, Leigh! your friend,
kymber

PioneerPreppy said...

hmmm pickle juice that's interesting.

Thistle Cove Farm said...

I've been out of touch and not sure why you're not using baking powder but these biscuits look amazing. You had me at cheese and biscuit. haha

Mama Pea said...

Pickle juice. Amazing.

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Cheese biscuits sound so good any way you make them! Will you stop using baking powder or is this just so you will know how to do it a different way if you ever need to? Nancy

Leigh said...

Kymber, LOL, you're one to talk. All those gorgeous food photos at your own blog! They did rise beautifully though, didn't they.

Leigh said...

You'd never even know it was in there.

Leigh said...

Sandra, I've been working on my eBook series and thought an interesting homestead how-to would be baking without baking powder. Folks are always thrilled to be able to make their own, but with only baking soda and a little understanding of the science behind why baking powder works, the possibilities are endless! This is one of my experiments for the recipe section. :)

Leigh said...

:)

Leigh said...

Nancy, I stopped buying baking powder years ago, once I understood the principle behind it. I don't usually use pickle juice, but it's been fun experimenting with the possibilities.

Debbie - Mountain Mama said...

Oh, these look incredible!! You had me at CHEESE!! :)

DFW said...

Those look & sound delicious! p.s. just learned how to comment w/tablet!

Renee Nefe said...

yummy! I made cheddar biscuits a few nights ago...but I probably used too much apple cider vinegar to make the "butter milk" as kiddo wasn't happy. ooopsie! I'll try again and keep a better eye on it.

Sandy Livesay said...

Leigh,

Your biscuits look amazing, and I bet taste amazing. Do you taste the pickle juice? I ask because my husband hates anything pickled. I would love to make these biscuits, and not tell him know there's pickle juice in them.

Leigh said...

:) Anything cheese!

Leigh said...

That means you're technologically more advanced than me. :)

Leigh said...

I think it's 1 tablespoon of vinegar to milk(?) If you're like me though, you glug it instead of measure it. :)

Leigh said...

No, no pickle taste at all. If you wanted, you could use either vinegar or lemon juice instead. You won't taste those either, however, because they mostly get used to make carbon dioxide with the baking soda.

Christine said...

Great recipe and idea. I love reading about your experiments and how to do without certain staples. Being a 65 yr. old novice to even the idea of homesteading, I must ask, since Google was no help...what's the diff. between plain old Crisco (which I haven't used since I was living with my parents decades ago) and palm shortening? Sorry, but I don't bake that much. Thank you!

Christine said...

P.S. Thank you for the post on rendering chicken fat!!

Leigh said...

Well you know, we all start at the same place - the beginning. :) I think homesteading is catching on for all age groups and all walks of life. Anyone who likes doing for themselves is drawn to at least some aspect of it. As I always say, something is better than nothing. :)

Crisco is hydrogenated (transfat) soy and cottonseed oil. Personally I want to avoid all three of those, so I buy the more expensive palm shortening. From everything I've read, it's a healthy alternative to old-fashioned shortening. It's a saturated fat and so it's a stable solid at room temperature. I like coconut oil too, but it melts at warmer temps. I'm curious, what do you use for shortening? A lot of folks use lard or butter.

Leigh said...

Glad you enjoyed that!