What do SEC football, sweet tea, pecan pie, and pimento and cheese all have in common? We’ll they’re all just about as southern as a Georgia peach, y’all. I dare you to find me a grocery store or even convenience store in the south that doesn’t sell pimento cheese or pimento and cheese. For years though, the mayonnaise-based spread was just not something I had any interest touching. Many versions seemed too goopy for my taste and lacked big time in the flavor department. But then one day, I tried my sister-in-law’s pimento and cheese and from then on, I’ve been a loyal fan. I’ve branched out and tried the famous spread at a few different places, all of which were claiming the best pimento and cheese. Sometimes I was pleasantly surprised and almost inclined to agree, other times I was deeply dissapointed. Maybe someday we will make pimento and cheese together, but in the meantime I’m sharing these flaky southern pimento and cheese biscuits with you. They are packed with the same flavors as their namesake spread. The acidic pimentos, sharp cheddar and a little cayenne to give some spice to the flaky, buttery biscuits. These are perfect by themselves, but would be extra special topped with a fried egg and some bacon for a decadent breakfast sandwich.
The Pimento Part
To give these biscuits the classic pimento flavor, we are going to add many of the same ingredients that are common flavor additions to the spread. In a small bowl, mix up the worcestershire, chopped pimentos, cajun seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and cayenne pepper. By premixing these ingredients together, we can prevent clumping and ensure that all the flavor add-ins are evenly distributed. After mixing the flavor components to the biscuits, add your milk as well and mix together. You can set this aside until we are ready for the final step in mixing together our dough. Prep work is key with biscuits, because we want them to be handled as little as possible. The more you handle the dough, the more likely to develop gluten, which is the protein in flour, that produces a more chewy end product. This is great for pizza or sandwich bread, but not great for flaky biscuits.
Here’s a tip for mixing your butter and flour perfectly every time! Pop your butter in the freezer for 30 minutes before you plan to make your biscuits. Once your butter is frozen, use a cheese grater to shred the butter and toss with the flour. Now you are ready for the liquid ingredients!
Better with Butter
Everyone has their opinions about how exactly biscuits should be made and what the ideal fat source is. I fall heavily in the camp of butter is better for many reasons. Butter has approximately 18% water content and what happens to water when it hits a certain high temperature? Correct. It produces steam. When the butter in the biscuit dough melts while cooking, ir creates little steam pockets that help develop biscuits’ signature flaky characteristic. Lard often has a lower water content, which means less steam and less flake. Margarine is engineered to mimic butter, so it has a similar water content and could produce a similar effect. However, we are going for flavor here and without a doubt, butter reigns supreme. In a large bowl, toss together all the dry ingredients for the biscuit dough. Add in the butter and using your fingers, quickly distribute the butter evenly in the flour. Add in the cheddar cheese and toss with the dry ingredients and butter. You want to work quickly to avoid the butter melting. We want to keep those butter shreds intact as much as possible.
Final Steps
With the butter and cheese evenly distributed within the dough, it’s time to add the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and using a rubber spatula, gently mixing. This will form a shaggy dough with some dry spots remaining. Not to worry. On a clean work surface, turn the loose dough out and work in the remaining flour just until the dough holds together. You can see above what the dough looks like when it is turned out of the bowl and what it looks like when it is formed. As soon as your dough holds together, form it into a rectangle about 10 inches long by 6 inches wide. I prefer cutting my biscuits using this method because it guarantees less handling of the dough than cutting with a round cutter. However, if you really want round biscuits, go ahead. Cut your dough once vertically so that you have to halves and then horizontally, dividing your dough into 6 jumbo or 8 normal sized biscuits. Arrange them in an 9 x 13 baking dish with about a half inch sepparating each biscuit. Bake at 400 degrees F on the middle rack for 13-15 minutes, until golden brown.
Enjoy!
Once your biscuits are done baking, immediately add a small pat of butter to the top of each biscuit and allow it to melt into the cracks. Serve your biscuits hot with additional butter, honey, or the preserves of your choosing.
If these Flaky Southern Pimento and Cheese Biscuits are destined for your table, here is what you need to know…
Flaky Southern Pimento and Cheese Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 3 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 4.5 oz pimentos, drained and chopped
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 4 tsp worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp cajun seasoning
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the over to 400 degrees F (204 degrees C).
- In a small bowl, mix together pimentos, milk, worcestershite sauce, cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Cube butter into small pieces and using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until pea-size pieces of butter remain. See note for alternative option.
- Add the shredded cheese to the butter, baking powder and flour. Toss to coat. Add the wet ingredients and using a rubber spatula or your hands combine to form a very loose and shaggy dough. This should only take a few seconds. At this point, the dough will be crumbly and will not hold together.
- Turn the biscuit dough out onto a clean, floured surface. Gently fold the dough until it holds together and there are no remaining pockets of flour or sticky spots in the dough.
- Form the dough into a rectangle approximately 10 inches long by 6 inches wide. Cut once vertically so that you have two. long halves. Cut horizontally to make 6 jumbo or 8 regular sized biscuits.
- Place on a parchent lined 9 x 13 inch baking pan with about 1 inch between each biscuit. Bake at 400 degrees F (204 degrees C) for 13-15 minutes, until golden brown.
- While still hot, add a small amount of butter to the top of each biscuit and allow to melt. Serve immediately with butter, honey or preserves of your choice.
Notes
- Rather than cutting in the butter, place your stick of butter in the freezer 30 minutes before baking. Once frozen, shred the butter using a cheese grater and toss the shredded butter with the flour. No cutting necessary! This is my prefered method.