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Buttermilk Biscuits with Goat Cheese and Chives Recipe

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Buttermilk Biscuits with Goat Cheese and Chives

Ever wonder what the difference is between scones and biscuits? The light, sweet scones enjoyed in England are nothing like the heavy, somewhat dry scones we usually have here in the states. They are more like our biscuits, but sweet. Of course "biscuit" in England means what we here would call a cookie. So confusing.

I set out to make a light, savory scone, and in the process learned that, at least here in America, what I was making would more normally be called a biscuit. Here, therefore, is a recipe for delicious buttermilk biscuits, made with goat cheese and chives, and shaped into wedges (the shape of American scones). You can shape them any which way you like. Oh yes, and as for the difference between scones and biscuits? Here in America, scones tend to be a little heavier and drier, made with an egg, sweet, and usually including fruit such as cranberries or raisins. Biscuits are usually savory, light and fluffy, and made with buttermilk. But the distinctions are blurry, even here.

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Buttermilk Biscuits with Goat Cheese and Chives Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of freshly chopped chives (can also use chopped green onions)
1 5-ounce log soft fresh goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup buttermilk (plus an extra tablespoon for finish)

Method

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 2 heavy baking sheets with silpat or parchment paper.

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2 Whisk flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Using fingertips, rub butter into dry ingredients until coarse meal forms. Stir in the chives. Add cheese and buttermilk; stir with fork just until a sticky dough forms (bits of cheese will be visible in dough).

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3 Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently 8 times with floured hands. Do not over-knead! Form into a round, about 3/4-inch to an inch thick. Cut the round into 8 wedges. Use a pastry brush to brush on some extra buttermilk over the surface of the wedges.

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4 Arrange wedges about 1/2 inch apart on an ungreased large baking sheet and bake in middle of oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Makes 8 large biscuits. Best eaten just baked and warm, with a little butter.

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Posted by Elise on Mar 17, 2007 and indexed Biscuit, Buttermilk, Goat Cheese

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Comments

Biscuits or scones, these certainly look great. I love the idea goat cheese and chives. A great harmony of flavors!

Posted by: Meeta on March 18, 2007 2:01 AM

That looks wonderful! But now I'm thinking to myself, how do I make a european scone? My good friend who moved here from the UK has been trying to make scones and every time she gets a recipe to make she tries to convince me that somehow it's not a real scone she just made... Can you give provide some information on how to make traditional scones?

Posted by: Chrissy on March 18, 2007 6:03 AM

These sound heavenly! I can't wait to try them!

Posted by: Aimee on March 18, 2007 6:10 AM

What a great post! Having lived in New England, the South, and now California, I've noticed that scones and biscuits vary by region even here is the U.S. Now that I think of it, I sure have eaten a lot of scones and biscuits in all three regions.

Posted by: Susan from Food "Blogga" on March 18, 2007 6:21 AM

Ok, so I awoke this morning planning to make some simple French toast with a side of fresh fruit for the family when I noticed my 16 year old viewing your wonderful site.(SHE turned us on to you approx. six months ago) After a nice trip to the market, my beautiful kitchen is now being taken over by a teen on a mission, Goat Cheese and Chive Buttermilk Biscuits. They do look awesome! Thank You!

Posted by: jdomeara on March 18, 2007 6:29 AM

Wow! 30 minutes ago I first saw this post and now I'm eating one of these delicious biscuits. I didn't have any chives or spring onions but they are lovely. Like Red Lobster cheese biscuits but not nearly as salty and way nicer. Thank you so much!

Posted by: Mel on March 18, 2007 6:35 AM

I had noticed the differences you describe (I'm a scot living in Virginia) but had never been set to musing on what american scones are most like in the uk (is it very bad to ask you to say that instead of 'England'?). The answer I came up with was rock cakes, although I do wonder if this is just an unfortunate reflection on the scones I have tried here - never had a scone I liked here, never had a rock cake I liked back home! I'm looking forward to trying your rendition of British scones though :)

Posted by: sarah on March 18, 2007 6:43 AM

I've gotta go with scone (v. biscuit) on this one; they're triangular. My brain won't allow me to call them bisc....bis....bi...see? I can't even say the word.

In any event, they look Über delicious. I could eat goat cheese on a roofing shingle.

Posted by: jonathan on March 18, 2007 8:57 AM

Hi Chrissy - If you want to make a British style scone, I would do a search for scone recipe at Google UK. Use the Google Calculator to do the measurement conversions. Or experiment and take an American recipe for biscuits and remove the salt and savory elements and add some sugar.

Posted by: Elise on March 18, 2007 12:04 PM

First, your gorgeous soda bread, now - biscuits. Sigh. [Stomach rumble.] ;-)

I love the addition of goat cheese. I might have to experiment with making this recipe gluten-free. It seems like it would translate very well. Thanks for this inspiring post.

Posted by: Karina on March 18, 2007 1:26 PM

Thank you, Elise, for this discussion on the difference between scones and biscuits. I was asking that same question just recently.

I recently found this recipe for cream scones, which are the most perfect scones I've had thus far!

Posted by: Piegirl on March 18, 2007 6:51 PM

In the south we know our biscuits! They are light and fluffy, with lots of butter and jam... or maybe with some sausage gravy.
Drop in and we can have a cup a tea.

Posted by: sandi @ the whistlestop cafe on March 18, 2007 9:02 PM

It's been the cause of some shame that as an Alabaman (I grew up 15 minutes from the Irondale Cafe, Sandi) I've never liked biscuits. I do like scones, though. Maybe if I made my biscuits triangular, I could fool myself into thinking they're just "light and fluffy scones."

Posted by: Chip on March 19, 2007 6:29 AM

I'm Enlgish and I love English scones, which are round, light and fluffy, etc. American scones are heavy and huge, more like our rock cakes. I'm going to try these because I love goat cheese and chives too, but should I make them triangular or round?

Posted by: Sheila on March 19, 2007 1:05 PM

Hi Sheila,
You can make these in any shape you want. Typically in the US, scones are in the shape of triangles, and biscuits are in the shape of rounds. It's sort of cognitive dissonance for us to have a biscuit made into triangles, but since I had scones on my mind, I made them into triangles. It doesn't really matter.

Posted by: Elise on March 19, 2007 1:43 PM

Hi Elise,

Your scones or your herby biscuits look good enough to eat for me. I see in your photo
you use silpads- where did you purchase them?
I have a pair but I would like a better quality of silpads.

Linda

Posted by: Linda on March 19, 2007 4:49 PM

Oh yum...these look delicious. My scones tend to be too dry, so hopefully this one will work out for me. Thanks for the recipe!

Posted by: Robin on March 20, 2007 10:18 AM

Oh, wow. My first comment, but not the first time I've been bowled over by one of your recipes! These were out of this world. I made them to go with asparagus soup, and thank goodness. The soup was bland, but that was forgotten as these made me and my fiance speechless! I can't wait to make them with eggs to dress up brunch. Bravo.

Posted by: Maggie on March 21, 2007 6:15 AM

I made these biscuits to accompany the Irish stew, the combo was delicious, they went surprisingly well together. We loved the stew - which became even tastier second day. I am very excited about the biscuits (scones) - it is the first time that a scone/biscuit recipe has worked out well for me, they were delicious - I would love to try a sweeter (or at least non-savoury) version - could this recipe be adapted with a bit more sugar and currants? Thanks....

Posted by: Judy on March 21, 2007 4:38 PM

I've been wanting to make scones (the English version) with sultanas for quite a while. I have a recipe with buttermilk, but am trying to use clotted cream for the dough, hoping for even more indulgence... I've been wrecking my brain over how to shape them as I don't have the traditional pentagon cutters - and round is way too boring. So American is the way to go!!!

Posted by: johanna on March 25, 2007 5:05 AM

These were so easy to make and were quite delicious. I loved biting into small chunks of goat cheese. I have a scone pan that is divided into 8 compartments and they came out just perfect. Keep those great recipes coming!

Posted by: Jim on March 27, 2007 2:35 PM

I just wanted to tell you that I turned this recipe into sweet scones with currents - ommitted chives & cheese, and increased the sugar to 1/3 of a cup, and added 3/4 cup of currents. It worked out really well - they were given rave reviews by family.

Posted by: Judy on July 2, 2007 8:44 AM

These look delicious. Thanks for the recipe!

Posted by: Sellig on September 3, 2007 1:03 PM

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