The great moving saga continues (don’t worry — it’s almost over), so once again I blog valiantly on the front lines so Jocelyn can cram the rest of her earthly possessions into boxes in time to take them elsewhere in the world tomorrow.  (There are fewer pictures in today’s post for basically the same reason — sorry about that!)

I’ve previously mentioned how much we loved going to Red Lobster back in the days of yore, and how only a stomach rendered truly bottomless by the undetected appetite increase of celiac disease let me eat as much of their biscuits and appetizers as I wanted before hitting the huge and delicious entrees.  Even my father, who avowedly flees from the taste, smell, or three-day-old wilderness trail of garlic, occasionally tucked into their famous cheddar bay biscuits.

Well, these biscuits aren’t exactly like those — but they’re plenty close enough.  🙂  They’re cheesy and garlicky and crispy, and they make a decent small meal by themselves, or an excellent side with something else.  They’re also very quick and easy to make.

And now, I depart into the great labor of packing to move with my fellows, and leave you to the pursuit of biscuit-y dreams.  🙂

Cheese-Garlic Drop Biscuits

Yield:  8 biscuits

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup dough mix
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1/4 tsp guar gum
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 T baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp italian seasoning
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 T shortening
  • 1/2 cup grated sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • optionally, melted butter to brush warm biscuits with

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.  Lightly grease and “flour” (with dough mix) a cookie sheet, or, really, any other metal pan you like that has a nice flat bottom; set aside.

2.  In a medium-to-large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients — dough mix, xanthan gum, guar gum, baking soda, baking powder, salt, italian seasoning, and garlic powder.  Then, using a fork or pastry cutter, cut the shortening into the dry mix until crumbly, then use the fork to lightly mix in the grated cheese.

3.  Last but not least, add the milk, and use the fork to bring the mixture together.  The result should be a slightly sticky dough — dry enough that you can handle with your hands without too much trouble, but sticky enough that you’ll probably want to dust whatever cutting tool you use to divide up the dough with dough mix.  (I’ll use a knife or floppy spatula, whichever’s handier.)  Divide the dough into eight roughly equal pieces (four, if you’ve halved the recipe like I did for this batch!).

4.  Drop the dough pieces onto the greased-and-“floured” pan.  (You can roll them a little between your hands to make them round first, but you don’t have to.)  Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the outside is just starting to turn golden brown and the inside is done through.

5.  If you want to, you can brush the biscuits with some melted butter just as they come out of the oven, but they’re good dry, too.  Eat ’em while they’re hot!