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Nearly four years ago, I experimented with a recipe to reproduce the “Cheddar Bay” biscuits from Red Lobster. I love those biscuits, but it’s extremely rare for me to go out to eat, much less to a Red Lobster. I came up with a delicious, flavorful drop biscuit that was everything I wanted it to be. It became my kids’ favorite biscuit recipe, hands down. When I fix these biscuits, after I take them out of the oven and am getting the rest of dinner together, I will find my kids gathered around the pan of biscuits stuffing their faces. There is no other biscuit recipe I make that elicits that kind of biscuit response–unbridled attack on the pan. They’ll eat them up like candy. No added butter is needed, making it even easier to eat them up like candy. They’re already bursting with moist buttery, cheesy goodness.
Recipes I share on this here little ol’ blog thing are just that for the most part–my family’s favorite recipes. Sometimes I like to do recipe experiments, trying new things or old things or things I’ve never heard of before, but mostly, it’s just my family’s favorite recipes. There’s one of me and many thousands of you, so I wouldn’t expect every reader to love every recipe, but I’m certainly not out to get anyone. I don’t share a recipe unless I really like it. Sometimes, I get negative comments, and that’s okay. I don’t stop people from posting negative comments on my recipes. Have at it. But for some reason, this particular recipe has generated some of the most strident comments I’ve ever received on a recipe. (Ongoing, despite the fact that this is one of my older recipes that’s been on my site since 2009.)
Here’s one:
Hi, I just wanna say that I’ve tried making this recipe THREE times and I can wholeheartedly say that this is a terrible recipe. I’m an experienced cook and baker, have been cooking and baking many years, won cooking competitions and all that jazz. I have never, EVER, dealt with a recipe just to be made very disappointed for three times. It’s so bloody runny! It couldn’t hold its own when I scooped it onto the casserole dish. And when it’s done baking, once I bite into it, the texture is horrible! Like an underdone spongy shortbread. So bad to the point of being disgusting. The flavor wasn’t disastrous, but the texture was just.. Tsk. I’m lost for words. I followed this recipe to the T. Yet even after experimenting on the 2nd and 3rd attempt where I tried using less milk, chilled the batter before baking it, etc etc. Nothing works. Thanks so much for wasting my time.
And another:
This is the second time I have made these biscuits, following the recipe exactly. They have (again) turned out as a runny greasy batter, rather than a biscuit dough. I used bisquck baking mix this time and added 1 more additional cup of mix until it resembled tradional dough. I am not a beginning cook, I am a sixty plus granny who has been cooking since I was 12, I am considered a great cook.
Your recipe needs tweaking especially since you are portraying yourself as some kind of a domestic goddess.
First, at least one person is going to leave a comment on this post telling me I shouldn’t respond to negative comments. At least one person is going to email me slapping my hand for “calling out” the commenters, and possibly at least one person is even going to call me to say the same thing. (Yes, people find my phone number.) The comments were left voluntarily and publicly on my very public website. I don’t know their real names, but I’m not even using their usernames here (though you can find them by looking back at the original post here where you can see the comments as they were posted). I get comments that annoy me sometimes, but nothing annoys me more than being told what I can or can’t post. Most of the comments I get here make my day, so that’s just the way life is, you take the bad along with the good, and this website has brought so much love into my life from readers that I can’t complain. Sometimes I am flat bowled over by the kindness and generosity of you who read this site. Yesterday, I was feeling slightly irked when I went to the post office. I checked my box and there was a sweet card from a reader who had bought three jars of my apple butter last fall. She included a check for $15 saying it was so good, she felt I had undercharged for the pints and wanted to pay more for them. (Thank you, Marie.) It came at a good time when I was feeling, as I said, slightly irked, reminding me that the goodness of people always far outweighs the bad.
A lot of times, I will completely ignore negative comments, but in this case I’m going to respond for two reasons. One, because it entertains me to do so, but primarily because this is a great recipe and negative comments such as these can lead people to think they shouldn’t try the recipe, that something is wrong with it.
There’s nothing wrong with this recipe. Since 2009, I’ve made this recipe countless times. Measured and prepared as directed, it results in a delicious biscuit. An individual may prepare this recipe and not like the result, but the result is as intended nonetheless. I can’t guarantee that any individual will like a recipe just because I do, but that doesn’t reflect on the recipe but on individual taste.
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How to make Ultimate Cheddar Bay Biscuits:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups milk
Note: If using a baking mix, replace first 5 ingredients with 2 1/2 cups baking mix.
Place first 5 ingredients (or 2 1/2 cups baking mix) in a large bowl. Add cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Work in the butter with a pastry cutter. Stir in cheese then add sour cream and milk. Scoop biscuit dough out by big spoonfuls and place in a greased 9 x 13 casserole pan. (Or other type of pan with an edge to it–if you use a flat baking sheet, butter sauce will spill down into your oven.)
Topping
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon parsley
dash of salt
Melt butter. Stir in garlic powder, parsley, and a dash of salt. Spoon half of topping over unbaked biscuits. Bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes.* After removing biscuits from the oven, spoon the rest of the topping over them.
*Your baking time may vary due to the size you scoop your biscuits. When I make this recipe, I make 20 biscuits in a 9 x 13 pan.
If 20 biscuits is too much, of course you can cut the recipe in half.
Now let me point out an obvious fact–this is a drop biscuit recipe. It is meant to be scooped by the spoonful into the pan, not patted and rolled out and cut. That said, it does not yield a runny dough. Let me demonstrate.
I use my homemade Quick Mix. Here it is measured out exactly to 2 1/2 cups (with the recipe printed out from Farm Bell Recipes).
You can use another baking mix, or you can make the recipe from scratch if you prefer, using the directions. Cut in the butter.
Stir in the cheese.
Add 1/2 cup sour cream and 1 1/4 cups milk–here you see it measured out.
It makes a moist dough, but not runny. See how the dough stands up on the spoon.
First biscuit plopped into the pan, holding its shape.
Ready for the oven.
Out of the oven–use whatever means necessary to hold back the kids because you can forget about what else you made for dinner, all anyone is going to care about is the biscuits.
Now, I could go on to address the more entertaining features of the above two comments. One stated that she tried the recipe three times (apparently without learning anything) and the other one stated twice, all the while assuring me emphatically that they are fantastic cooks. But what is probably more entertaining is the FERVOR of the comments, leading them to deride me as a so-called domestic goddess and sarcastically thanking me for wasting their time. (Did I make her try the recipe three times?)
That is the trouble with biscuits–but also the peace that is within them. Biscuits are SIGNIFICANT. Forget about world hunger, warfare, and tragic disasters, we’re talking biscuits here! IMPORTANT STUFF. If you dare to post a BISCUIT recipe that doesn’t suit someone, they’ll take your head off.
And while that is mostly ridiculous, there is also something soothing in that fact. No matter what dire events are posed in the world today, biscuits still take us straight to the beating hearts of our lives. A good biscuit is home, safety, love, and comfort all rolled up in one buttery, flaky little package.
So go ahead, beat me over my biscuits, the more for me and the kids. I’m just glad you think they’re important.
See this recipe at Farm Bell Recipes and save it to your recipe box.
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So be it.
Not everyone likes all things. So I didn’t make them again, no harm no foul.
I really enjoyed this post, it is funny how people blame others for their misgivings. Biscuits were fine, just not to my liking, so I was smart enough to find a different one more suited to me.
Keep the favourites coming Suzanne…some may become mine, some might not. C’est la vie!
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I found that my Artisan Bread in 5 recipe was too dry using their measurements. I’ve been making bread for MANY years and it just wasn’t working out “right”.
I checked and rechecked that I was measuring “their way” (scoop but not pack the cup instead of using a spoon to gently scoop the flour). But I was using a different flour than they use. When I switched to THEIR flour, it worked out just about, but not quite right. So, I had to tweak it a bit for my location. It gets very humid here. Any flour kept in a bag vs closed container, will pick up some of that moisture and tend to “clump” more, making one cup denser than one cup of “dry” flour. Once I adjusted the recipe to MY location so as to account for the humidity AND used their flour (which has a higher protein level than the regular brand flours – I checked), it’s a keeper recipe. So..I use 1/2 cup less flour and their King Arthur Flour and I’m good to go. More expensive than the dough boy or the medalist’s flour, but tastier! If you’re using biscuit flour – Martha White or White Lily (lower protein than regular flour – I checked the lable) and they’re using bread flour (higher protein than regular flour) then there’s going to be a problem with the biscuits. Regular flour should do it for either bread or biscuits. However, as I found out, there CAN be differences that show up in “regular” flours if one flour is more of a “specialty” flour.
I’ll have to make these biscuits as ya don’ flung a cravin’ on me, Woman!
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I am just shocked at how incredulous people are especially when this is YOUR blog. Would they ever speak to you like that face to face???? Anyway, your blog is wonderful and I love reading all the stories. It makes my day to catch up on CITR. Thank you for the courage to write every day and share with the rest of us!!
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It’s crazy what people ALLOW to bother them. But you are right. Baking, for some reason, is a sacred thing.
I’ve had people give false ingredients to me when asking for a recipe (why not just say, ‘no’ if you do not want to share your recipe?)
Comfort food and quickly turn into contention food! lol
Oh, well. Crazy is as crazy does and if the recipe pleases you, and obviously it does, these ‘expert’ cooks obviously did something wrong and kudos to you for a classy, ‘I told you so’ baking demo.
I’d love to know how many readers will be making this recipe this week as a result of the post?
Love you, your blog, your kids, your animals and your recipes. I can hardly wait for your book release.
Hope your day is great!
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Sandy
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Have a great day everyone…!
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I do want to try these, had missed the recipe before, so thanks for reposting!
My question was going to be if you meant soured cream or cultured sour cream? The image is pretty clearly cultured sour cream which I rarely buy or have on hand. On the other hand, since discovering ganache, I almost always have liquid cream in the fridge. I’ll have to see if I can turn what I’ve got into what’s needed?
I’ve been cooking since I was a preteen, as I was raised by my widower Dad. My DH is the biscuit maker in this house, so if I eff these up, I’ll blame me — not you. They do sound yummy and I have the ingredients for chili or maybe with albondigas soup instead?
Hmmmmmmm.
[Thanks again!]
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I love reading your blog, the recipes, the stories, and the pictures. If your book is half as good as this post it going to be a winner. I read your blog everyday and enjoy all of it.
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You are REAL, you have MOXIE, and you won’t be bullied by 60 year old grannies who deem themselves fantastic cooks.
Aren’t people so interesting? Entertaining, they are!
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I know your other book is coming out soon, and I will certainly buy it (or Kindle it if possible), but a cookbook would be the BOMB!!!
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Anyway… I love all the recipes I have tried from you and I sure thank you for sharing them with us.
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I wonder if these experienced bakers took into account their environs? I used the live in the dry desert and sometimes I’d have to add a little bit of liquid. Now that I live in the midst of the rice fields, I find I hold back a little. My father taught me that sometimes you have to make small adjustments to the recipe and that is perfectly fine. I’m experienced enough to know that flour can absorb water from the very air and to know what I want from a biscuit recipe.
You are correct though, I do look at people’s reviews and tend to make a decision on them. Sometimes I’m awake enough to realize that the comment is not all that is kosher. But I admit when I get to browsing recipes, I’m not all that awake.
Thanks so much for the recipe!!
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I have tried these biscuits twice. The first time I goofed with my ingredients and they were little bricks…….my fault. The second time they were delicious little nuggets of wonderfulness!
Manners should ALWAYS come first ladies. If you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face, don’t say it on the internet. And ….to expand on that if you don’t have something nice to say then it is best to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt!
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I think biscuits are one of the easiest things to make except that I can’t make the hand squeezed “cat heads” Mama made just about every day. Maybe these “expert” cooks don’t understand to stop the liquid before it gets too “soupy”. Humidity has a lot of effect on flour but even when I sometimes get these a little too wet, they’re still good. Never had any complaints–too busy chewing!!
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I can see it being someone’s idea of fun(ny). Because I recently taught Middle School and High School. I no longer do, largely due to behavior.
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[Duh, he doesn't remember that you have made these for us before.] They were DELISH!
Love ya!
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Love your blog; I’ve learned so much here! Those two trolls need to have their internet commenting privileges revoked until they’ve had a crash course in good manners. Possibly with a side of remedial kitchen chemistry as well. I may not be in the “55+ and granny” category yet, but I know better than to blame my failures in the kitchen on recipes when said recipes have been tried and tested by others.
A funny anecdote – I have a friend whom I’ve taught how to cook that is amazingly smart (she’s got a doctorate and is a brain research scientist) – and a few years ago she asked me to teach her how to make biscuits. So there we were in the kitchen, reading the recipe out of Cooks Illustrated. At one point, it called for using the mixer with whips to cut in the fat – “12 one-second pulses”. So she sat there and counted out the 12. She went to add the milk; I peeked in and said that the butter wasn’t cut in enough yet.
“But the BOOK says 12 1-second pulses! Therefore, it is ready!”
“But I know biscuit dough, and I say if you insist on adding that milk now, before the butter’s fully cut in, you’re going to have butter running out of the biscuits and a big smoky mess in your oven.”
She claimed that since the people who wrote the book were trained, accomplished and PUBLISHED cooks, and I was just a stay-at-home farmwife with nary an article credit to my name, that she was going with the book.
After we got the smoke out of the house and the mess cleaned up, I showed her how to make biscuits.
After which, she sat down and showed me with molecular diagrams how the fat in the butter reacts to the catalyst of heat to bind with the proteins in the flour. She’s not Stupid.
But – I can cook!
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The first thing I thought of is that maybe these women live in an area with high humidity. I see Darlene suggested this, too. I live in an area with a very wet climate, and it is very common to need to add more flour to breads, etc. Otherwise the dough is too wet. I also found out the hard way Christmas 2011 when making caramels that not all butter is made the same. The cheap, on sale brands have a higher percentage of water and react differently to cooking even though it tastes fine. Since your biscuit recipe has quite a bit of butter, it is possible that they might have used an inexpensive brand of butter that made the dough wetter than would have been the case with higher fat butter.
Whatever the reaon for their disappointment, how RUDE!
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You (and your biscuits) are loved here in central PA!
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I would like to give you a bird-eye view of my Mother’s cat-head biscuits. She worked from a pan that fit in her flour barrel.
She made a well in the flour – added the other stuff (buttermilk, bak. powder etc) Mixed and squeezed off a biscuit. These were placed in a greased (lard) bread pan and baked in a woodburning stove. The number of catheads depended by the amount of buttermilk she put in the “well”.
The barrel was covered with Printed feed sacks -lid & a rock to hold it in place. Oh well so much for exact directions!!!!
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I called Earnie at work and read this to him. Is there a full moon tonight? It’s comforting to know there are crazies in all walks of life.
We received a nasty letter and even nastier comments on our website from a lady yesterday. She’s angry that her furnace that was just installed doesn’t work and she’s cold. I’d be angry too if I’d just spent all that money for a new furnace and it didn’t work. Fortunately for us, we didn’t install her furnace. We did give her a quote and pointed out some specific problems that would need addressed when she got a new furnace for instance that she needed her electric service upgraded. She chose another company to do the work and now they won’t return her calls. That doesn’t matter, she’s mad at us because we didn’t “make her buy from us”. That’s a quote from her letter. Can you imagine? No wait, you can!
Your darn biscuits are probably the cause of global warming and the fiscal crisis too.
Laughter is good medicine, thanks for the chuckle.
kellyb
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I think both of those commenters forgot they are ladies. They sure have some balls between their legs to think it’s okay to talk to anyone like that.
I’m glad the people who appreciate you far outweigh the negative ninnies.
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Then I started thinking about it and I figured it might be a difference in the way we measure flour – I was taught to fluff the flour, spoon it out of the bag gently, sprinkle it into my measuring cup and level it. This would get me a radically different weight of flour from someone who scoops from the bag and/or taps the cup to level.
I added an additional cup of flour, and while my biscuit batter still wasn’t as firm as your pictures here, it was enough that when I poured it into my 13×9 pan, topped it with butter and baked it, it came out wonderfully and I could cut it into bars to serve it.
I did try adding even more flour once, a total of 3 1/2 cups, in an attempt to get spoonable biscuits, but that just got me biscuits that were sort of heavy and thick, dry, and bland, so I went back to the 3c of flour.
Strange, how one recipe can work out so differently for so many people! Not an excuse to attack you, of course, but I just wanted to chime in and say maybe they weren’t -completely- crazy.
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But, Suzanne, this recipe just looks plain dangerous. NO WAY I’m making those biscuits! I’m pretty sure I’d eat them all in one sitting and just don’t need that!!
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Suzanne, I work with the public and there is no disputing the fact, people are just plain RUDE! Don’t let it get you down;)
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On another note, I made your apple dumplings for Christmas dessert. Everyone loved them! I made half the batch with tart cherries (I just made a cherry pie filling with some of my frozen tart cherries) I used the same spices and the syrup too,and they were great too. Thank you for posting your recipes, I love new ideas!
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That makes me a failure as a southern woman. *sigh* Oh and I am considered an excellent cook too. Really!
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“At Biba we always served penne vodka as a tossed pasta – never sauced on top, makes the pasta stick together when it’s not tossed, sorry.
Certified Chef.”
Whoa, I never tried to pass my recipe off as Biba’s! I was just making pasta for my husband! Perhaps had the commenter just left off the word “sorry” it would not have hit a nerve with me. To me the “sorry” implied that the recipe was a complete failure. Without the word “sorry” the impression would be left that the pasta might stick together if served with the sauce on top.
I didn’t delete the comment because, after all, a Biba chef commented on my blog. I do think we have to choose our words more carefully when communicating via the internet because the words come off a little different just lying there on the screen.
But the timing of this post is perfect. We had a couple of discussions last weekend when the grandkids were here about the Cheddar Bay Biscuits at Red Lobster. When I asked about his favorite dish at Red Lobster, Buddy replied, “The biscuits!” Now I am going to have to try your recipe and see if they pass the Buddy test.
Keep doing what you do. We love it!
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That said, I have tried a recipe from another blog for make-in-the-pan pie crust and it used all oil in the recipe. Tried it twice and it was just a gloppy mess both times. Other reviewers (quite a few!) loved it. Go figure. Found a recipe here on Farm Bell Recipes posted by Bonny that offered softened butter (not melted! – melted will turn it into the same gloppy mess) as an option instead of oil. I use half butter and half oil and it works perfectly every time.
Thanks Suzanne. I love reading your blog. Makes me wish I was back on the farm.
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Thank you for this recipe! Will definitely make it again, and share it with others.
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My boyfriend liked them regardless lol.
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I actually made them in my food processor (with cold butter), since I had to shred the cheese anyway. I make all my drop biscuits in the food processor and they turn out wonderfully every time – it’s great for pie crust, too. (I *can* do it the other way but the food processor saves a lot of time, which is nice.)
I used local New England ingredients – Cabot Hunter’s Sharp Cheddar, Cabot butter, Oakhurst buttermilk, and King Arthur Flour. I also added a half teaspoon of baking soda, because I used buttermilk instead of sweet milk (didn’t have enough sweet milk). They rose and were light and delicious, and the butter topping was yummy with them. The cayenne gave them just the perfect amount of kick.
Thank you for this and your other great recipes!
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Your recipe is just fine…I find it funny that so-called ‘experienced’ bakers, would not just add a little self-raising flour if they found their scone dough too runny! LOL. Different flours, grown in different areas and stored differently, suck up different amounts of liquid – adjustments are easy! Were they experienced at packet mixes maybe?
‘Scone’ probably requires explanation – in Australia these would be called scones, as they are in Britain. Very slightly different, but you must have very wet dough, ( just ask my Scottish Grandmother!) I pat this into a half inch high blob and punch out circles with a floured water glass. I then put these in the pan, pat up the remainder, and continue until I have only enough to pat out the last one by hand.
This recipe is fabulous and cheesy, worked brilliantly, loved it. Our style of scone wouldn’t have this style topping, or gravy etc, that seems to be an often found way of serving ‘over there’. I have to say that I really liked this topping, and we’ll be making these very frequently.
Regards from Sunny Australia!
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Yes, your biscuits ARE important. In the best possible way.
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The finished biscuits were moist but not wet with a tender interior. If I make these again, I would probably skip the topping completely. There was more butter and garlic than I liked. But this is a matter of my own taste. The recipe itself worked perfectly for me.
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Let me also add, you can pull a recipe from the Blue Ribbon Winners and not everyone is going to like it. Use what you like and what works for you and what doesn’t, have enough common sense to move on to something else instead of blaming the person that was kind enough to share it with you in the first place!
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Now I’m going to have to make soup just for the excuse of baking badbadboy biscuits. FWIW, I shorten the butter sauce to only 3 Tblsps butter and it still adds just enough joy to the landscape of baked biscuits. No cayenne in the dough due to family preference … I use cold butter, Bay Seasoning and extra sharp Cheddar. THAT is what an experienced baker does in adjusting a recipe to fit the climate and family without whining the recipe wasn’t perfect right out of the gate.
And it’s very difficult to wait for these heavenly-scented, melting biscuits to cool enough to cram into a eager mouth. Sour cream, eh?
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So glad for this post because it has abeen a long time since I made these. Time to indulge!