Garlic Cheddar Drop Biscuits

Image courtesy Creative Commons 

These quick and easy drop biscuits make a perfect accompaniment to a chili or chowder. This is a copy cat recipe for the Red Lobster restaurant chain's biscuits. The secret to them is the extra butter added to the baking mix. It adds a lightness to them that is particularly good. Freezing the butter makes it possible to grate into the biscuit mix and it's much faster than cutting it in using other methods, such as a pastry cutter. Additionally, the butter pieces remain separate until they melt in the oven, making the biscuit even lighter in texture.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups Homemade baking mix or a commercial brand such as Bisquick.
• 4 tablespoons cold butter
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 3/4 cup cold milk
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning (optional)

Brush on top

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (not salt)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 pinch salt

Directions

1. Put the butter into the freezer for 15 minutes so it can get really cold (frozen even).
2. Grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper.
3. Preheat oven to 400°F.
4. Grate the frozen butter into the baking mix and combine lightly. There should be small chunks of butter about the size of peas. Add cheese and garlic powder
5. Add milk and quickly combine by hand. Don’t over mix.
6. Drop 9 equal portions onto greased cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until tops are light brown.
8. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a bowl. Stir in 1/2 tsp garlic powder and parsley flakes.
9. As soon as they come out of the oven, use a pastry brush to spread garlic butter over the biscuit tops.