Easy Biscuits with Shredded Cheese

Our favorite recipe for buttery homemade biscuits includes shredded cheese, making them irresistibly delicious. These savory biscuits are a huge hit with my entire family, who affectionately call them "small pieces of cheesy goodness." They're perfect for enjoying as a savory treat on New Year's Eve, at gatherings with friends, or while munching in front of the TV.

The biscuit base consists of shortcrust pastry with finely grated cheese. Cut out shapes from the dough to your liking. Squares, rectangles, or long sticks; everything works well. Sprinkle the biscuits with caraway or poppy seeds for a nice look and better flavor.

MY TIP: Try these flaky cheese hearts, too!

➜ Ingredients

To make cheesy biscuits, you will need:

SHORTCRUST PASTRY:

• All-purpose flour; or plain flour in the UK
• Unsalted butter; cold butter from the fridge
• Cheese; shredded semi-hard cheese. More on the cheese type later in the recipe.
• Whole milk; to make the dough softer
• Baking powder; as a leavening agent
• Salt; the amount of salt depends on the type of cheese used. A less pronounced cheese will require the addition of salt to the biscuit dough, for more pronounced cheeses, feel free to omit the salt.

FOR EGG WASH AND TOPPING:

• Egg; hand-whisked by a fork; it serves to coat the biscuits before you sprinkle them on top
• Caraway, poppy seeds, coarse salt; be careful with the salt, just a few grains to decorate the surface

✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.

➜ Instructions with photos

STEP 1: Finely grate the cheese on a hand grater box (small holes). Mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt. Put the flour mixture in a large bowl. Add the shredded cheese and butter chopped into smaller pieces. Pour in the milk and work everything into a soft dough. Use either your hands or a pastry blender.

STEP 2: Divide the dough in half and set both halves in the fridge for two hours or in the freezer for 30 minutes. Roll out the rested dough into a shape as close to a rectangle as possible, approximately ⅛ inch (0.3-0.4 mm) thick. Cut the dough into the desired shapes using a knife or a cookie cutter. Leave the other half of the remaining dough in the fridge for now.

STEP 3: Transfer the cut-out shapes to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk an egg and brush the tops of the biscuits with it. Then sprinkle with poppy seeds, caraway seeds, and coarse salt (be careful with the salt, just a few grains will do).

TIP: To make sure the parchment paper sticks well to the baking sheet, grease the sheet with a few strokes of butter, lard, or other solid fat. The paper will stick to the bottom and not curl or slide anymore.

STEP 4: Preheat the oven to 338°F/170°C (upper and lower heat). Place the baking tray on a wire rack in the middle of the hot oven and bake for 16 minutes until golden brown.

➜ Storage

Store the baked biscuits in an airtight container. Keep them cool and dry. They will last for 2-3 weeks if stored well.

TIP: These savory cheese biscuits are usually baked for immediate consumption. I wouldn't worry about planning how to store them - trust me, you won't have to deal with that issue, that's how delicious they are!

The biscuits become slightly puffy when baked with the desired flaky layers. They are beautifully soft right from the start. Serve them in a small bowl or arranged on a platter.

➜ Which cheese to use?

A good quality medium-hard cheese is suitable for this recipe. You can either buy it already shredded in your local store or grate the cheese at home just before using it.

Suitable brands of cheese: Monterey Jack, Provolone, mild or sharp Cheddar cheese. I can imagine Mozzarella as well.

The more distinctive the cheese, the less salt you add to the dough.

➜ Useful tips

• If you didn't let the dough set in the fridge, the dough would tear and stick to the rolling pin as you rolled it out. Let the dough harden just enough to work with. The properly chilled dough does not need floured surface when rolled out. Read more about shortcrust pastry used for baking salty biscuits, pies, cakes, etc.
• Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper. It will be easier to handle!
• Cut the shapes of the biscuits with a knife or a pizza cutter, which gives the edge a nice wavy shape. For more festive cookies, cut out small shapes with a biscuit cutter, e.g., card shapes (diamonds, hearts, acorns, leaves), romantic hearts, or whichever cutters you have available.

More delicious recipes:

• Garlic cheese spread
• Open-faced sandwiches
• Czech tartar sauce