Jalapeño-Cheddar Biscuits

Home organizing isn’t just about what’s in your closets and cabinets. It’s about creating a home that supports the way you want to live, and for me, that includes growing food in my garden and finding delicious ways to use it. This month, I’ve been experimenting with a few recipes that use REAL flour. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I usually like to bake paleo, but this time I really wanted to make the real thing.

My garden has been bursting this summer, and I needed to figure out what to do with all of my jalapeños. I don’t actually eat jalapeños very often, but they’re so much fun (and surprisingly easy) to grow. I ended up giving about 1.5 pounds of them to a friend who is a great cook, but I still wanted to put some of my harvest to use myself.

The result: jalapeño cheddar biscuits!

I also recently baked biscochitos, the classic New Mexican cookies, for Charlie’s niece, who just started college. For those, I used a recipe I found on the Chimayó Chile Shop website. I’m also growing Chimayó chiles, a relatively rare heirloom chile with deep roots in New Mexico’s Chimayó Valley. I’ve been using the fresh peppers to top roasted chicken, and I’m drying the rest to grind into chile powder so I can enjoy them all year long.

But back to the jalapeños! These cheddar biscuits were a delicious way to use some of my garden harvest, and I wanted to share the recipe with you.

Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits

Makes about 10–12 biscuits

Ingredients

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour (possibly more if your dough is too sticky like mine was)
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 4–6 jalapeños, finely diced
• 1½ cups sharp cheddar, shredded
• ½ cup (1 stick) very cold unsalted butter
• 1 cup cold buttermilk*
• 1–2 Tbsp melted butter for brushing

Optional but excellent: 1 Tbsp honey in the dough.

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Cut the cold butter into small cubes. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and garlic powder.
3. Cut the cold butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until you have lots of little pea-sized pieces. You want visible pieces of butter (that’s what gives you flaky layers).
4. Stir in the cheddar and diced jalapeños.
5. Pour in the cold buttermilk and gently stir just until a shaggy dough forms. Don’t overmix.
6. Turn it onto a lightly floured counter and gently press it into a rectangle about ¾-inch thick. Fold it in thirds like a letter, turn it 90°, flatten gently and repeat 2 more times. This creates those gorgeous biscuit layers. (My dough was very sticky, so I added more flour).
7. Pat to about 1 inch thick and cut with a 2½–3-inch biscuit cutter. Press straight down- don’t twist the cutter, which can seal the edges and inhibit the rise. (I actually don’t have a biscuit cutter, so I just cut them into squares and shaped into rounds. They were still very good!)
8. Put them on the baking sheet. For softer sides, let them touch; for crispier sides, leave space between them.

Bake 13–17 minutes, until tall and golden brown.

Immediately brush the tops with melted butter.

Make honey butter for them

Mix:

• 4 Tbsp softened butter
• 1½ Tbsp honey
• Tiny pinch of salt

Jalapeño heat tip: If yours are particularly hot, use 4 and remove the ribs/seeds. If they’re relatively mild, I’d use 6 peppers and leave some ribs and seeds in. The cheddar, butter and buttermilk tame the heat considerably.

You can also freeze the unbaked biscuits individually, then put them into a freezer bag. Bake them straight from frozen whenever you want one—just add a few minutes to the baking time.

* If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a quick substitute with regular milk and lemon juice.

For 1 cup total:

• Put 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a measuring cup.
• Add regular milk until it reaches the 1-cup line.
• Stir and let it sit for 5–10 minutes.
• Then use the whole cup exactly where the recipe calls for buttermilk.

It may look slightly curdled or thickened (that’s exactly what you want). The acidity from the lemon juice also reacts with the ½ teaspoon baking soda in your biscuit recipe, which helps them rise and keeps them tender.

Posted By Jean Prominski, Certified Professional Organizer

• Follow me on Instagram @carlsbadsparkle
• Join my Facebook Group, Declutter and Organize with SparkleHomeOrganizing.
• Ready to book a consultation? Complete this form.
• For artwork to energize your home, order through jeanprominski.com.