Buttermilk Blue Cheese Biscuits with Walnuts and Apple Thyme Butter
Walnuts, apples and blue cheese ā it's a great combo and these yummy little biscuits are as flakey as can be thanks to the secret ingredient ā shortening!
Ingredients
| 2-Ā½ cups | 480ā120 ml | All-purpose flour |
| 2 teaspoons | 10 ml | Baking powder |
| Ā½ teaspoons | 2.5 ml | Salt |
| Ā½ teaspoons | 2.5 ml | Baking soda |
| ā cups | 160 ml | Vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into cubes |
| Ā¾ cups | 180 ml | Walnut pieces |
| 1-Ā¼ cup | 240ā60 ml | Blue cheese, crumbled |
| 1 cup | 240 ml | Buttermilk, plus a little more for brushing |
| 2 whole | Sweet apples like Fuji or Braeburn, peeled, cored and diced (for the butter) | |
| 1 Tablespoon | 15 ml | Light brown sugar (for the butter) |
| 2 Tablespoons | 30 ml | Fresh thyme, chopped (for the butter) |
| 1 cup | 240 ml | Water (for the butter) |
| 1 stick | Butter, softened (for the butter) |
Instructions
Recipe makes 16 biscuits.
First make the butterā¦
- Sprinkle the apples with sugar and thyme and cook over medium low heat in a small skillet until the apples soften, collapse, and turn into a chunky sauce, about 20 minutes. Add water as necessary to the skillet so the apples don't scorch and burn. Smash down any stubborn pieces that refuse to turn into sauce. Cool completely.
- Once cooled, blend the butter and apples together using an electric hand mixer or whisk. Chill until ready to use.
Now make the biscuitsā¦ 3. Preheat oven to 350Ā°F. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl. Work shortening into flour using a pastry blender or fingertips until you have coarse looking crumbs and the shortening is distributed throughout the flour mixture. 4. Add walnuts and 1 cup of the blue cheese, again, using a pastry blender or fingertips work dough until blended. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add buttermilk. Stir using a spoon or spatula until a dough forms. 5. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead until combined. The dough will not be completely smooth like a pie crust but should hold together and be a little elastic. Form into a rectangle about Ā¼ inch thick, then use a pizza slicer to cut into 16 squares (if you prefer round biscuitsā¦have at it!). 6. Place biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with a little buttermilk, sprinkle with remaining blue cheese and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature with apple butter.