Layered Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits with Salted Honey Butter. (2024)

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The very best Layered Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits with Salted Honey Butter. Because today is truly in need of a savory, spicy, oh so flaky, buttery biscuit. These biscuits are extra special, made with buttermilk, sharp cheddar cheese, fresh jalapeños, and layered with cream cheese and salted butter. Beyond delicious. Bonus? They’re super easy to make! Eat them warm, right out of the oven, with a smear of salted honey butter…there’s not a better biscuit!

I never thought I would be saying this, but I’m so excited about these biscuits. These are some of the best biscuits you will make, and surely the best biscuits I’ve created. They’re stacked tall, so flaky, extra buttery, and swirled throughout with sharp cheddar cheese and spicy jalapeños…

Then finished with sweet, creamy (and a touch salty), honey butter.

So good. So Delicious.

Do you want to know a little fact? Honey butter makes everything better. As does a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. Promise you.

Ok, done with the dramatics, but in all seriousness, I’m really excited to share these biscuits with you guys today. Sometimes when I set out to make recipes I’m already so excited about them. Other times I go into the recipe development process unsure (for a variety of reasons). Biscuits are never something that have overly excited me. This is probably why almost all of the biscuit recipes we have here on HBH are baked into a sweet cobbler, used for shortcakes, or baked into another cobbler (this time savory).

They’re a part of a recipe, not a recipe on their own. As of today, that’s changing, because these biscuits are extra special. They require their own stand-alone recipe space.

Yes, they’re that GOOD.

The inspiration.

I hesitated to create this recipe, as I mentioned above, because I’d never done just a biscuit recipe. But after some debate, I decided I needed to try my hand at a solo biscuit. Something about this time of year always makes me think of more southern recipes, so biscuits!

Since I didn’t want to create a basic all-butter biscuit, I turned to a flavor I knew I could love, jalapeño cheddar. A classic combo that never gets old and felt perfectly fitting for a buttery, oh so flaky biscuit.

Why are these biscuits so special?

Three reasons.

One, the addition of spicy jalapeños and sharp cheddar cheese. Yes, this is the obvious reason, but if you’ve yet to try this flavor combination, I’m here to encourage you. Something about spicy jalapeños with sharp cheddar is just delicious. The cheese cuts the spice, creating the perfect balance of spicy, savory flavor.

Reason two, stacking the biscuits, one on top of another, to physically create layers. I read about this method on Bon Appètit and am so happy I gave it a try when I made this strawberry cobbler a few weeks ago. It’s a game-changer and creates the perfect flaky, buttery biscuit. I tried to capture as many process photos as I could, to give you all visuals, but it’s easier than you’d think. Essentially you’re just cutting the biscuits, stacking them, and then rolling them out a second time. It’s kind of a simpler version of laminating the biscuit dough (the process of folding butter into dough several times to create very thin layers of butter then dough, butter then dough).

The key step…

Aside from all the layers, this next step is KEY to a layered, oh so flaky biscuit.

Freeze the biscuits for a few minutes before they go into the oven. This helps to re-chill the butter and in-turn gives your biscuits added flakiness. Just before baking, brush the tops with butter to keep the biscuits from drying out while baking.

Now bake.

While they bake make the salted honey butter.

I’d say this is optional, but really, it’s not. You justhave to smear this all over your warm biscuits. It’s the most indulgent addition, and it’s absolutely what your biscuit needs. The sweetness balances out the spice.

And let’s be real, you can never have too much butter on a biscuit. Go with me on this, it’s really the only way.

And with that, let’s all agree to put biscuits on the menu for tonight. These make for a great breakfast, afternoon snack, or side to truly any dinner you’re serving. You can’t go wrong. Perfect biscuit for all the upcoming late spring and summer days ahead.

Looking for other savory bread recipes? Try these.

Swirled Garlic Herb Bread

Browned Butter Jalapeño Cornbread Muffins

No-Knead Rosemary Garlic Parmesan Bread

Ingredients

▢ 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
▢ 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
▢ 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
▢ 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
▢ 1-2 jalapeños, seeded, if desired, and chopped
▢ 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) cold salted butter, cubed, plus melted butter, for brushing
▢ 1 cup cold buttermilk
▢ 4 ounces cold cream cheese, sliced into 3 slices
▢ 4 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
▢ 3 tablespoons honey
▢ flaky sea salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and butter. Pulse until the mix clumps together to form larger pea-size balls. Add the cheddar and jalapeños, pulsing 1-2 times to combine. Drizzle in the buttermilk until the dough is "shaggy" looking. The dough will be a little dry.
3. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and pat into a 1-inch thick square. Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Add 1 slice of cream cheese to 3 of the squares, gently pressing to flatten. Stack the cream cheese topped pieces on top of each other. Add the final piece (with no cream cheese) on top of the stack (see above photos). Press down to flatten. Dust the surface with flour and roll the dough into a 1 inch thick rectangle. Cut into 12 biscuits. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze 10-15 minutes, to chill.
4. Remove the biscuits from the freezer and brush with melted butter. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden on top.
5. Meanwhile, make the honey butter. In a small bowl, combine the butter, honey, and a pinch of flaky sea salt.Serve the biscuits warm with honey butter and flaky salt.

Notes

Buttermilk Substitute: while using buttermilk is best, you can also just use milk or heavy cream.

To make Homemade Buttermilk:Combine 1 scant cup of milk and 1 tablespoon either lemon juice or vinegar. Let the mix sit 5 to 10 minutes, untilslightly thickened and you see small curdled bits. Use as directed above.

Biscuits:the layering method was adapted fromBon Appètit.

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