These Homemade Biscuits with Cheddar and Bacon are easy-to-make fluffy, savory biscuits made to be dipped in the yolk of a fried egg. Each bite is loaded with flavor, including sharp cheddar, green onions, bell pepper, and bacon. It's the perfect tender biscuit for your brunch spread.
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Why You Need Homemade Biscuits Every Weekend
There's a small bakery in San Francisco that sells the best croissants, kouign amann, and savory scones we've ever had. There was a recent point in time when we visited this shop so often that we had to limit ourselves to every other weekend because we were out of control. We loved the shop so much we spent over $35 on baked goods per weekend and we needed to savor the treats!
The savory scones at this sweet little local bakery inspired me to make Bacon Cheddar Biscuits. The fluffy biscuits are both savory and a little sweet, with hints of breakfast flavors. The bacon adds a smokey, traditional breakfast flavor to the dough. The bell peppers are cooked in bacon grease for maximum flavor and sweetness. The green onions and cheddar add zest and sharpness that ties in bacon and peppers. All of these ingredients are tucked between the flaky layers of the dough, making each bite full of umami breakfast flavors.
Bacon Cheddar Biscuits taste delicious on their own, but are especially delectable dipped in the yolk of a fried egg or used for a breakfast egg sandwich. Each buttery bite will leave you wanting more!
Ingredients
- Bacon - Provides the savory flavor crystals.
- Red bell pepper - Adds a rich and bright flavor when caramelized in the bacon fat.
- Green onions - Adds a spicy and aromatic bite to the dish.
- Cheddar cheese - adds a sharp and savory flavor the biscuits.
- Flour - the foundation for the biscuits.
- Baking powder - helps make the biscuit dough soft and tender.
- Kosher salt - Balances the sweetness and the sugar.
- Ground black pepper - Adds a hint of spice to the biscuits.
- Butter - room temperature butter is best for the biscuit texture and adds a buttery flavor. Use European or American butter. European has a higher fat content resulting in a crisper, buttery biscuit.
- Heavy whipping cream - Contains at least 30% fat content which makes the biscuit dough moist and tasty. Use organic heavy whipping cream for the best quality product.
3 Steps to Fluffy Biscuits
The trick to making fluffy, tender biscuits is using cold butter and cream, carefully mixing the ingredients, and creating layers.
- Cold Butter - First, the flakes of cold butter create pockets of air in the biscuit dough, which make the biscuits fluffy and airy.
- Careful Mixing - To maintain the fluffiness of the dough, careful mixing is a must. Carefully mixing the dough until the ingredients are just mixed to avoid melting the butter and deflating the biscuits.
- Create Layers - Finally, cutting the cutting and stacking the dough creates layers. To achieve layers, form the dough into a rectangle, then cut the dough into four equal quarters. Then, stack the four smaller rectangles forming a tower of dough. Flatten the tower back into a rectangle to be cut into biscuits.
These loaded breakfast biscuits are very low maintenance and are a great addition to your brunch table. We make these biscuits often and enjoy them with our morning tea and some eggs for a hearty weekend breakfast.
How to Make the Bacon and Bell Peppers
- Heat the oven - Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Cook the Bacon - As the oven heats, place the bacon in the pan to form a single layer with some space between. Thoroughly cook the bacon so it's crispy, about 3 minutes per side. Then, remove the bacon from the pan and chop it into small pieces. Set these bacon bits aside while you cook the peppers.
- Cook the Bell Peppers - Next, add the bell peppers to the pan and cook them in the bacon grease until tender. The bell peppers will be loaded with flavor from all of the bacon fat! Then, remove the peppers from the pan and place them in a bowl to cool. Reserve the bacon and the peppers to be added to the flour once you start to make the biscuits.
How to Make Our Homemade Biscuits
- Mix the dry ingredients - In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Then, whisk the dry ingredients until well mixed.
- Mix in the butter - Add the cubed butter to the dry ingredients and toss the butter until coated with flour. Use your fingers and palms to pinch the butter until it forms pea-sized bits of floury butter. Do this part quickly so the butter stays cold. These buttery bits will create pockets of air to make fluffy biscuits.
- Add the remaining ingredients - Now, add in the bacon, bell peppers, green onions, cheddar, and toss until covered in flour and butter bits. Then, pour the heavy whipping cream into the flour mixture. Using a rubber baking spatula, gently fold in the cream just until the cream is incorporated. Use your hands to knead the dough a couple of times to fully incorporate the cream and flour. Be careful to not over mix.
- Shape the biscuits - Place the dough onto a floured surface and use your hands to gently pat the dough into a 6x7-inch rectangle. After, cut the dough in half lengthwise, then cut those rectangles in half crosswise, forming 4 smaller dough rectangles. Now for the flaky layers! Stack the four rectangles to form a tall tower of dough. Press down on the stack to form back into a rectangle. Press the dough into a 1-inch thick 9x7-inch rectangle.
- Bake the biscuits - Cut the rectangle in half lengthwise, then cut each rectangle into 3 or 4 squares depending on how large you want the biscuits to be. You can also use a round biscuit cutter if you prefer your biscuits to be circular. Place the squares on the lined baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
- Cool the biscuits then enjoy - Once baked, transfer the shortcakes onto a cooling rack to cool before serving.
Variations
- Vegetarian - Omit bacon from the recipe and instead increase the amount of bell peppers and cheese.
- Cheese - Instead of cheddar, use a white cheddar, jalapeño pepper jack, gruyere or whatever cheese you prefer.
- Gluten Free - To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten free flour.
Equipment
This easy biscuit recipe requires a few kitchen essentials. You'll need mixing bowls, a skillet or non-stick pan, spatula, whisk, chefs knife, box grater, baking sheet, and a cooling rack. If you want to build your kitchen essentials, check out my Kitchen Essentials Shop for my top kitchen product recommendations.
Storage
These homemade biscuits can be stored in an air-tight container or a cloche for up to 3 days. To warm them up, heat the oven to 250° F and heat the biscuits on a baking sheet for 3-5 minutes.
Did You Like This Recipe?
If you liked our Bacon Cheddar Breakfast Biscuits recipe, rate and comment below! For more reasons to bake, check out these favorites:
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Homemade Biscuits with Cheddar and Bacon
Ingredients
- 6 oz bacon
- ½ red bell pepper finely chopped
- ½ cup green onions chopped (about 3 green onions)
- 1 cup cheddar grated
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup butter 1 stick, cubed
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
Bacon and Bell Peppers
- While the oven gets hot, heat a frying pan on medium heat on the stovetop to cook the bacon. Place the strips of bacon in the pan to form a single layer with some space between. Flip the bacon so that both sides cook, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside to cool.
- In the same pan, add the bell peppers and cook them in the bacon grease until soft and tender, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the pan and place in a bowl to cool. As the peppers cool, chop the crisp bacon into small bits. Reserve the bacon and the peppers to be added to the flour in the following steps.
Biscuits
- In a large mixing bowl, place the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Whisk the dry ingredients until well mixed.
- Add the cubed butter to the dry ingredients. Toss the butter until coated with flour. Then, use your hands to pinch the butter until it forms pea-sized bits of floury butter. Do this part quickly so the butter stays cold.
- Add in the bacon, bell peppers, green onions, cheddar, and toss until incorporated.
- Pour 1 cup of the heavy whipping cream into the flour mixture. Using a rubber baking spatula, gently fold in the cream just until the cream is incorporated. Then, use your hands to knead the dough a couple of times to fully incorporate the cream and flour. Be careful to not over mix.
- Place the dough onto a floured surface and use your hands to gently pat the dough into a 6x7-inch rectangle. Cut the dough in half lengthwise, then cut those rectangles in half crosswise, forming 4 equal rectangles.
- Then, stack the four rectangles to form a tall tower of dough. Press down on the stack to form back into a rectangle. Press the dough into a 1-inch thick 9x7-inch rectangle.
- Cut the rectangle in half lengthwise, then cut each rectangle into 3 or 4 squares depending on how large you want the biscuits to be. Place the squares on the baking sheet and place in the freezer for 10 minutes. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
- Once baked, transfer the shortcakes onto a cooling rack to cool.
Nutrition
Food safety
- Wash hands after touching raw eggs
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
Chris
Made these breakfast biscuits this weekend and they were divine! So filling and flavorful 🙂