Original recipe from Taste of the South Magazine, Christmas Cooking Southern Style, December 2011 Edition, page 16
I love to bake but I have always been intimidated by bread and biscuits. My first attempt at baking bread was in 1978; it was quite an unsuccessful event unless of course you wanted a braided loaf shaped door stopper. I admit that I never gave home made bread much of a chance after that experience.
Recently, I came across the holiday issue of Taste of the South magazine and found the recipe for Cheddar-Thyme Drop Biscuits and thought, why not give these a try? They would be the perfect compliment to my parsnip apple soup.
With my new found determination to bake a successful batch of biscuits, I rolled up my sleeves, measured out all of the ingredients, shredded the cheese by hand and stood back looking a bit apprehensively at the counter top and then said to myself, these are going to be fantastic! In no time at all they were lined up on the baking sheet and baking in the over. The smell exuding from the oven was absolutely inviting and my family gathered around to see what I was up to. The baking tray came out of the oven and everyone seemed surprised that they looked like biscuits. There was a tentative silence, and finally a bite into one biscuit and then an exclamation of, “fantastic!”
Finally, after so many years, the hurdle of biscuit baking has been surmounted! These Cheddar- Thyme Biscuits are light and delicious. They are destined to be a family favorite.
Cheddar Thyme Drop Biscuits Recipe
Original Recipe from Taste of the South
Makes approximately 16 biscuits
2 cups four
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup cold whole buttermilk
¼ cup butter, melted
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese divided in half
2 TBS fresh thyme
Preheat oven to 450° F
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add buttermilk and melted butter to the flour mixture, stirring to remove any large lumps. Add ½ cup of shredded cheese and thyme, stirring to combine. Drop onto prepared baking sheet by ¼ cupfuls. Sprinkle tops with remaining ½ cup of cheese.
Bake until lightly golden, 10 – 12 minutes.
Serve warm.
Note: I double the amount of cheese and use low fat buttermilk instead of whole buttermilk. I make mine a bit larger than the recipe calls for yielding 12 biscuits and baking for 12 – 14 minutes.