We’ve been on a huge breakfast-for-dinner kick this winter and while I’d like to tell you it has been triggered by earnest, respectable inclinations such as the fact that scrambled eggs, toast, and whatever vegetables or citrus salad we can scrounge up from the fridge for dinner is budget-minded, high in protein, fairly balanced and wholesome, the truth is that it’s been mostly about laziness. Once we figured out that our kid would now not only eat scrambled eggs but be excited to see them on the table [although, let’s be honest, doubly so if he can also talk us into freshly squeezing orange juice or a few slices of bacon], a whole world of unplanned dinners were opened up to us. We now can go all the way to 15 minutes before dinner to come up with a plan for it, which for me is meal-planning equivalent of the heavens opening up and glorifying all of my late-afternoon lethargy. I knew this day would eventually come!
It’s also led to all sorts of diversions, usually in the quickbread department. Last week, I unearthed a recipe for caramelized onion and gruyère biscuits — that’s right, the butter, buttermilk and baking soda equivalent of French onion soup — I’d bookmarked last year and couldn’t find a single reason not to make them once I realized that they’d be a pan of eggs and a small salad away from a completely respectable weeknight dinner. Nobody warns you about this, but sometimes the problem with ostensibly passing as an adult is that there’s nobody there to question you when you decide everyone can eat biscuits for dinner.
I regret nothing. These are as amazing as you’d expect from something with diced bits of cheese that trickle out during the baking time and occasionally land in crispy frico puddles on the baking sheet. The onions are dark, sweet, intense, and briefly soaked in buttermilk before winding themselves through the biscuits. And although these make excellent breakfast or breakfast-for-dinner companions, they’d also be wonderful alongside the kind of hearty winter meal — Dijon and Cognac Beef Stew or Mushroom Bourguignon, anyone? — this blizzard brewing outside will require, nay, demand.
Some biscuit/scone kin: My Favorite Buttermilk Biscuits, Blue Cheese Scallion Drop Biscuits and Jalapeno-Cheddar Scones
One year ago: Homemade Dulce de Leche and Cheese Blintz
Two years ago: Intensely Chocolate Sables
Three years ago: Potato Chip Cookies
Four years ago: Roast Chicken with Dijon Sauce
Five years ago: Ricotta Muffins and Mixed Citrus Salad with Feta and Mint
Six years ago: Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cake and Chicken Milanese and an Escarole Salad (still a favorite meal, both parts)
Seven years ago: Leek and Swiss Chard Tart and Key Lime Cheesecake
Eight years ago: Pasta with Sausages, Tomatoes and Mushrooms and Sweet and Spicy Candied Pecans
And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Bourbon Slush Punch (mid-January Bourbon Snow Cone Punch, anyone?)
1.5 Years Ago: Mama Canales-Garcia’s Avocado and Shrimp Salsa
2.5 Years Ago: Zucchini Bread Pancakes
3.5 Years Ago: Corn, Buttermilk and Chive Popovers
Caramelized Onion and Gruyère Biscuits
Adapted just a tiny bit from Alyce Shields at the late Pronto by Bar Bambino in SF, via Tasting Table
I made a few small changes to the original recipe, which you can see above. I halved the sugar, skipped the honey altogether, prefer to caramelize onions my own way (I find a lid in the initial stage helps the final outcome) and do better with a 1-inch vs. 1.5-inch dough, but otherwise found these to be pretty much perfect the way they were originally made. I froze half and will let them thaw for a bit before baking them, the next time the urgency strikes.
Yield: 10 3-inch (big!) biscuits
9 tablespoons (127 grams) cold unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 small onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 3/4 cups (345 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon coarse or kosher salt
4 ounces (about 1 cup or 115 grams) gruyère or another Swiss-style cheese in 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup buttermilk (or make your own)
Flaky sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter and add olive oil. Add the onions, reduce the heat to low and place a lid on top, letting them steam for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and continue to cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until they’re deep brown about 10 to 20 more minutes. If, for whatever reason, your onions need more time, up to 10 minutes more, don’t fret, they’ll only be more delicious for it. (Mine took a total of 22 minutes, but my stove at the lowest setting is closer to what I’d call medium, so things cook/brown too quickly.) Set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl or the workbowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Dice 8 tablespoons remaining cold butter into 1/2-inch bits. If proceeding by hand, use your fingertips or a pastry blender to work the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture is crumbly with butter in pieces no larger than a small pea. If proceeding in a food processor, add the butter and pulse the machine in short bursts until you get the same texture, then transfer the butter-flour mixture back to a medium bowl.
Stir in diced cheese. Pour buttermilk over cooled onions and stir to combine. Add buttermilk-onion mixture to bowl and stir until combined. It’s going to seem a little dry and will help to use your hands to knead it together a few times in the bowl; don’t worry if a couple floury spots remain. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and roll out to a 1-inch thickness. Use a floured 3-inch cutter to stamp out circles and space them apart on prepared baking sheet. Gather the scrap and re-roll them as needed. Sprinkle biscuits with sea salt and pepper and bake until the scones are deep golden-brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly around the edges, 20 to 23 minutes.
Eat warm. They’re best on the first day, but if any survive it, they will taste better re-warmed on day two.
Oh, WOW.
I must make these. Right now. With tomato soup.
PUT THEM IN MY MOUTH
I would eat these for breakfast, dinner, and every meal in between. Just the look of those caramelized onion is enough to give me heart palpitations.
Oh you lovely lovely person, you. JUST what i want for supper. I have just made a midolline, onion and cheddar cheese soup and these biscuits will go with nicely.
If we can have double chocolate cookies, we can have double cheese and onion meals!
oh my god, this recipe is fate. thanks Deb! I just made your buttermilk roast chicken last night (amazing, btw) and this will be the perfect thing to use up the rest of that buttermilk. Can’t wait to eat ’em!
Can you use White Lily Self rising flour? Would you omit or cut back on the baking soda or powder?
These look amazing and I can’t wait to try them. A small error though; your recipe calls for 2 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp baking powder. Should the latter be baking soda?
Thanks so much for the great recipes! :)
Yes, thanks. Now fixed!
You’ve listed baking powder twice- do you mean 2 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp baking soda?
Looks like you have baking powder in your recipe twice. Misprint, or should there be baking soda in there, too? Quick reply requested… I have buttermilk and a leftover sweet onion in my fridge right now, so I’m totally making this tonight. :-)
These look wonderful! But same question about the measurement for the missing baking soda! I can’t wait to make them.
Breakfast for dinner is where it’s at! Totally with you…and these biscuits sound like they’d be good any time of day! Yum!
Oh man. I’m in a total winter food rut. Breakfast for dinner is always a good idea. And these beat my egg on toast ritual. Do you think you could swap out for WW flour to give them at least a facade of healthier?
Oh my god these look soooo good. i just made a stew that would be delicious ladled over these biscuits. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
I’m *that person* who hates onions. Just HATE them. I can see a lot of delicious possibilities here for an onion-hater, though. I’m definitely going to try this w/jalapenos.
I’d love to hear any other ideas you have for dinners that can be made super quick! I love breakfast for dinner, such a good idea.
I’ve got french onion soup on this week’s meal plan, and now I’m tempted to take it to a ridiculous level with these biscuits. Goodness.
Mmmmm….frico puddles.
Mostly I’m sad that I didn’t see this recipe before going grocery shopping at 7 in the morning because they would have been lovely next to the split pea soup I’m making for dinner tonight. Next time!
OMG. I have gruyere, buttermilk, and european butter in the fridge right now.
These would be beautiful with a golden brown egg washed top. (And I can guarantee you, they wouldn’t survive much past Day 2!).
I can also guarantee you that I’d pick off all the crunchy cheese pieces off the sides of those biscuits before serving them :)
Yum, I did something similar for a holiday party last month, spreading gruyere, caramelized onions, a little mustard and a sprinkle of thyme on puff pastry and rolling it up into palmiers.
Rhetorical question: why are biscuits so often cut in circles? It seems easier to pat the dough into a rectangle-ish and then cut squares (trim the edges if you care about straight edges) and then there’s less you have to re-roll. I just started cutting my biscuits this way, it’s great.
I agree, Christina. After a lifetime of making round biscuits, I’ve started to make them squared — no waste and no re-rolling.
These biscuits sound divine. I’m headed to the kitchen to make a batch of caramelized onions in the oven (too easy) and then will tackle these biscuits to go with our smoked turkey, andouille sausage and oyster gumbo we’re having tonight to go with a nice blast of 40 degree weather! And bread pudding made with condensed milk for dessert!
Quick question: these spread a lot when I froze and then baked. I. LOVE. THEM. Any suggestions for freezing? I’m taking them for a long weekend. Also. You recipes are MY LIFE. 😍
Did you thaw them before you put them in the oven? Maybe popping them in still frozen would keep them from spreading?
What a yummy way to get through the Snow-pocalyse. I hope you can stay inside all cozy and safe while snacking on these fantastic biscuits!
Yummmm. Of course, I grew up eating biscuits at supper ALL the time. I am a proper southern girl. :) And, apparently, so are you, Deb!
These look absolutely delicious and would go well for nearly any meal I can think of including a much needed afternoon snack. BTW, I just have to tell you that I finally made the whole lemon bars in your book this weekend and I am absolutely blown away by the tiny bit of bitterness. I am the queen of anti bitterness and will not eat endive, escarole or even marmalade, but somehow these are the very best lemon bars I have ever tasted and I have made them from many recipes through the years. The texture is incredibly delightful. If the recipes in your coming book are anything like the many I have made from your first you should be very successful and I will be one happy cook! Thank you!
Going into motherhood, I thought that all kids liked scrambled eggs. I always thought, oh, I can’t wait until she’s eating solids and I can give her eggs for dinner! Such a great source of protein! Mom win!
She’s been eating solids for about a year now and I still cannot get her to eat scrambled eggs… or eggs in any form except maybe baked into a cake or mixed into pancakes. Am I alone in this struggle?
Biscuits look great, btw. Reminiscent of your jalapeno cheddar scones that are house favorites!
Mmm! These look amazing! Gruyere puts these over the top!!!
YUM They remind me of my Mum’s cheese scones we used to eat as kids.
Deb – do you think these would freeze well? I’d love to make them, but with only 2 of us at home now, 10 biscuits would not be a good thing for us. =)
How much additional liquid if u wanted to make these as drop biscuits? I prefer drops , Great sounding recipe!
Cheesy-oniony biscuits, who can resist something as yummy as that combo! I love cheddar biscuits but those sound like you said, French onion soup in a bread roll. Yum.
Meg, you are not alone! My 19-month-old will not even look at an egg, scrambled or otherwise. Drives me bananas! Though he eats the heck out of some french toast.
He might eat these biscuits, though. YUM.
No Gruyere in the house! Could I use cheddar or mozzarella?
Oh these look so moreish! They remind me of the amazing cheese and pickle scones (biscuits) that my local cafe used to make. YUM.
Would these work with a different hard cheese, like cheddar, mozzarella or monterey jack? Thanks!
These sound amazing!! Can’t wait to make them.
Deb – I think you missed the step of rolling out the dough. How thick to roll it?
I WANT! <3
Naj — I did, now added. Sorry for the confusion. I like a 1-inch thickness here. The original recipe said 1.5-inch but those always topple over on me. (Not that they go to waste or anything.)
Gruyere substitute — I’d suggest anything else in the semi-firm category, cheddar would be fine.
jay — I haven’t made these as drop, but you can start with an extra splash of buttermilk.
Kel — Yes, I baked half (bad idea; we only needed three!) and froze the other half unbaked. I’ll let them thaw a bit before I bake them off.
Meg — He’s almost 5.5. I couldn’t get him to eat scrambled eggs for years, but he came around recently, not sure why, but it’s made life much easier. (Don’t give up hope!) We even did breakfast tacos for dinner one night — salsa, black beans, scrambled eggs, cheese. Oh, and btw, the black bean thing! We sent him to a Winter Break Day Camp one week last month and they provided lunch (I did a happy dance). One day, they had tacos you could put black beans or beef into and he came home excited about both. He basically ate garbage for lunch all week except for that day and nothing but cookies and juice for snack (cringe) but the fact that he’ll now eat black beans made it all worthwhile.
Liz — See above: we made scrambled egg tacos too. I hadn’t made it for years, but we’ve started making Marcella Hazan’s butter/onion tomato sauce again every couple weeks (and last night!). It tastes really luxurious and makes for a good simple dinner with pasta, steamed broccoli (for the kid) and salad (for us). I’ve also been making Caesar dressing by the jarful so we just have to keep Romaine hearts around. I never bother with croutons but will put some shaved parmesan on top. And I think if I can convince my husband to go to the store again (heheh), we might make beef tacos tonight. Does anyone want a recipe for it? It’s really simple and definitely better than the packaged spice mix.
We call these ‘scones’ in New Zealand. I grate the butter to mix it in. It’s the lazy woman’s method :-)
Yum! This sounds delicious! ^And to the comment above, grating butter is brilliant! I’ve never thought to do that before!
These look amazing! And yes taco recipe!
I’ll certainly try these!
Yes, Deb, please share your recipe for beef tacos (per your comment #37, sounds like you make your own taco seasoning). I’m planning a taco bar for lunch for my daughter’s sixth birthday party, and I would love the SK recipe!! Please, please share!
Just chiming in to say YES PLEASE to the beef taco recipe.
I don’t eat beef but I prepare beef taco filling for my boyfriend on taco night and I’d love to have your help on this! Please share. Stay warm in that snowpocalypse :)
Yes for the beef taco recipe and YUM and thank you for the biscuit recipe!!
Christina@myhomespun… I use a pastry cutter and do squares also – just recently. I don’t have a biscuit cutter, but I do have a pastry cutter (dough cutter??) and it works wonderfully.
I also do the envelope tri-fold thing before cutting. I pat the dough gently into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle, tri-fold and cut. It has been working well for me.
Oh, yeah, I remember now that I wanted to tell you that Cook’s Country (sister magazine to Cook’s Illustrated) had a great recipe for buttermilk drop biscuits in its April/May 2014 edition with the following variations: mixed herb, mustard dill, rosemary olive and the one that absolutely makes me want to preheat the oven- cheddar pimento! I bet any of these variations could be added to your biscuits too, especially in drop form. I love biscuits!
Haha, I saw this while sitting at my desk and my mouth literally dropped open- looks so good!
These sound heavenly. There are few (savory) foods that aren’t improved with caramelized onions and melted cheese.
I love biscuits and savory scones (is there a difference?). I made some of Thomas Keller’s bacon cheddar chive scones last fall and they were something special.
So glad to hear that your kid is expanding his eating horizons. Cooking with restrictions can be liberating on a good day, but on an everyday basis it gets really tiresome.
These look like the ultimate comfort food. Perfect for the rainy weather here in Sydney today (you’d never guess it’s the middle of summer here)! We don’t really have ‘biscuits’ here (well, we do, but the term refers to something completely different), but I’ve always imagined them to taste like scones…might have to make these to see if I’m right!
Sensational! I didn’t have gruyere but used cheddar and added in a good shake of cayenne.
These are a perfect treat to get snowed in with.
Woww…. so simple and yummy…!
You had me at gruyère.
These were so so good! I used trader joe’s cheddar gruyere melange and it was perfect.
These will instantly upgrade that block of frozen soup in the freezer for dinner tomorrow night. Plus, biscuits!
Your boy will eat scrambled eggs? I’ve been waiting for seven years for my older son to ‘change his mind’ about eggs… And for his little brother to follow suit. Anyway your comment about camp (#37) reminds me there’s always hope.
Hi Deb,
Would it be possible to replace some (or even all) of the butter with olive oil?
Do you think this will change the consistency of the scones?
Anon — Usually it makes them spread, plus you won’t get the flakiness. It’s better to replace it with a solidified fat if you need it to be dairy-free, such as shortening.
Mothers, there is hope.
My pediatrician told my mother I should eat an egg every day. Since this was back in the Bad Old Days of the late 40s and early 50s, even though she personally hated eggs she took him at his word and stuffed one down me every morning, until I grew enough that the battle simply wasn’t worth it anymore. Most of my life, I simply wouldn’t eat them without about a gallon of catsup and hot sauce.
The funny thing is, though, that about 45-50 years later, I suddenly started finding eggs actually acceptable food. I admit I’d rather have a veggie omelet or a loaded breakfast burrito than plain scrambled, and I don’t eat fried (still can’t do that runny yolk the rest of you love…), but I do eat them regularly.
[On the other hand, to the day she died, Mom could unerringly detect egg yolks (the part she hated) in mayo, lemon curd, hollandaise, custard pies (including pumpkin and pecan) and pretty much anything else they were in, and wouldn’t touch any of them.]
Yes to beef taco recipe–and the Caesar dressing too, if you would. Thank you!
These scones/biscuits look great, but I would LOVE to see your taco recipe too please!
These biscuits look amazing. I would be horded them all to myself.
These biscuits look amazing.
This is exactly the kind of thing I can’t make at home because I will eat them all in one sitting. Savory scones for the win!
Yum — how do you freeze them unbaked?
My son ate scrambled eggs at around age 3 and then stopped at 6.
these will make the ultimate breakfast sandwich with a fried egg
WOW! I know what I’m making on this snow day…
Drooling over here, maybe this is the recipe that will get my non onion eater to love them. Fingers crossed!
As Im siting in my living room with the wood stove cranked and listening to the blizzard outside, all I can think about is making these wonderful sounding biscuits…..I only have chedder though..
Sounds delicious. I love making biscuits. Would you mind including a weight or cup equivalent when including onions and the like in your recipes? Finding small onions can be a real challenge in California grocery stores. Even medium ones can be hard to find. They tend to be larger than 3″ in diameter in most cases. 8 ounces or 1 cup or whatever the measurement wouldn’t depend on the size of the onion.
Would love the taco seasoning recipe as well.
Thanks!
OH MY GOSH. The perfect food. Thank you!!
wowowow I want these immediately! Awesome!
Made these last night with your winter squash soup from the archives. AMAZING. Had the leftovers this morning for breakfast as a modified avocado toast. Going into permanent rotation.
Thanks Deb!
Holy yum. I love biscuits in general, but with the addition of onion and gruyere? Wow!
Sorry if I’m asking a repetitive question, Deb, but I can never get the cast iron skillet clean…I’ve followed all ways to season and clean with hot water but still find when I wipe it out there is always something left behind…HELP!!!
Thanks!
Yes to the recipe for beef tacos! Please share.
Certainly good! Forced to do make so delicious onions ;)
YES, please! (Want the taco spice mix recipe)
Wow! These are great. I love Gruyere! Would be awesome with a turkey soup I think! thanks for sharing!!
I just baked these on our snow day in Brooklyn and they are amazing. I used sharp white cheddar which pooled and bubbled as promised. Because we were famished after a morning of sledding I baked a sheet of mini biscuits with a 1 and a half inch cutter for 15 minutes while I warmed up lentil soup. Halfway through lunch my husband was asking how soon we could bake the rest I had put in the freezer, and my toddler was smashing her last biscuit crumbs into her mouth and asking for more. What a great recipe.
Oh my gosh, I love these biscuits and I haven’t even tried them. They sound incredible!
Yum. How awesome would these be as a topping for a pot pie? I already make a version for that purpose using cheddar and walnuts. Maybe I’ll try these.
Could you recommend a good stand mixer and does it do a good job kneading bread? Mine of 23 years is acting up. Thanks!
These look and sound absolutely amazing!
xx Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
I’m snowed in just like everyone on the Northeast, but I have all of the ingredients for these! I’ll be making this and some chili for dinner tonight.
Oh my goodness, sounds fabulous! I prefer angel biscuits which are almost the same as regular biscuits (but have yeast in addition to baking soda and baking powder), so I’m going to try this combination of Gruyere and onions in those. I live in the south and only use White Lily flour for my biscuits–it makes the lightest, fluffiest biscuits ever. Thanks, Deb!
One day last week I visited THREE different coffee shops and a grocery store looking for a cheese scone. Could not find one, and this was not the first time I’ve looked, in vain. I can only suppose that people in Seattle (other than me) hate savory scones. Then you posted these….thank you. I had them for breakfast this morning.
I LOVE the idea of breakfast for dinner – especially when it involves mouth-watering biscuits like these! I’m so inspired to bake more now that the weather is chilly – thanks for sharing this delicious recipe ~ Cheers!
Okay, these are fantastic! Read the recipe this morning, made them tonight.
Just made these biscuits for dinner along with a spinach salad and slow cooker bbq chicken thighs. OMG!! They are amazing! I can’t wait to eat them again tomorrow morning:)) thank you, love these!
I notice you’re using a Silpat. Martha convinced me that I absolutely had to have one but once I got it I decided I actually preferred parchment. Would love to hear your thoughts. Although my grandma said that it’s a sorry biscuit that can’t grease it’s own pan.
Oh Deb! I had actually been searching cooking blogs for an onion-and-cheese biscuit and come up empty-handed some weeks ago.
I did this recipe with a few changes; 1 full TB salt instead of .75 TB, whole wheat pastry flour in place of white, reduced the butter from 8TB to 7TB in the dough, and used extra sharp cheddar because it was what I had on hand.
On first bite, I was not impressed. The whole wheat was — too earthy.
But given a little time to cool down, and with the addition of two poached eggs, it was a fine biscuit despite my divergences from your recipe.
This looks fantastic! I may try them to go with soup or maybe even a savory side to a frittata for Valentines Day! Yum!
When I saw this yesterday and almost passed out! I made the biscuits for dinner last night and they were to die for! We had them with your Kale and Quinoa Salad with Ricotta Salata, which was also delicious. I substitued feta because it’s what I had and it worked out just great! Thanks so much!
And now I know what to do with those last few slices of spiral sliced ham. I shall sandwich them in these.
Are these biscuits scone like? they look hummy
Deb, I made these my way this morning for breakfast with scrambled eggs/with brats cubed. Anyway, they were good. I had Bisquick mix and white cheddar cheese. I quickly did the onions, could have used more color, but I got up late and that was that. I will make these again, they were a winner!!! Thanks
Made them. Confirm that they are delicious, especially when warm. Went well with a dumpling soup. I used white cheddar and some ground parmesan (that’s what was in the fridge).
I’m going away with my family in a few weeks and we are gannets… so I’ve been looking for road trip treats that will keep us all satisfied for longer (trying to move away from all the chocolate biscuits and packets of sweets we usually get aha).. and these look perfect!
Definitely going to surprise them all with this goodies!
xox
Lucky you that Jacob will eat any eggs; I still can barely choke them down scrambled and can’t even contemplate a runny yoke without my gag reflex going off…and I’m in my 60’s! Don’t want to consume the cholesterol now, so I guess it worked out that I don’t have to give them up reluctantly. But I do love biscuits (should probably give those up, too, for the sodium..geez, getting old is a bitch) and these sound wonderful. Can’t wait to try them.
I made these yesterday and they were delicious, but the dough was really wet so they didn’t maintain a traditional biscuit-y shape/texture but rather came out more like soft scones. Still delicious, but I have no idea why my dough was so unlike yours — I followed the recipe exactly with no substitutions. Any thoughts?
DJS — I’m not sure at all, which I realize is no help at all. Mine were so dry, I really had to knead a few times to pull the ingredients together (but they baked up wonderfully). Maybe your buttery bits got softened, creating more of a wet effect? How were the final biscuits, were they flaky? If not, I definitely think the butter got too warm.
Someone’s got to say it… WHERE’s THE BEEF??? :)
Om nom! These look SO YUMMY!
Those look delicious and I’m thinking a great use of leftover gruyère(we do fondue often enough)!
I think I will prep some onions sliced instead of diced(I usually prep my onions diced for quick use) for this.
Yum.
These look like something my boyfriend would absolutely adore – cheese, biscuits, and caramelized onions? His dream. Wish I liked onions more, myself!
These look great! Some of my favorite flavors in these and they look very do-able as well. Must try!
Made these to go with dinner last night and they were so good. I had gotten pressed for time and forgot the sea salt flakes and pepper but we still thought they were wonderful. I made another batch this morning complete with the salt and pepper and they are even better. The salt and pepper really do complement the cheese and onion flavors. This is a keeper. My husband wants to use this biscuit for biscuits and gravy and I think he might be on to something. Well done Deb!
wow, what a great recipe, thank you Deb! I will immediately try it and serve it to my guests this weekends – I am sure, they will love your biscuits!
I’m really looking forward to making this, plus to getting your taco recipe and your Caesar salad dressing recipe :). These are both things that my kids will cook for dinner for us (they cook every Saturday, in theory, as I have only boys and I WILL make decent life partners out of them … not winning on the laundry basket side though). Anyway, I think these will also make great packed lunch fare – with a pot of veg sticks and maybe some hoummus on the side. So thank you!
TACOS YES!!
I made these to go along with carne guisada last night and THEY WERE AMAZING! I cannot stress how awesome these biscuits are. I did use swiss cheese instead of gruyere simply because I didn’t want to go to two stores and the one I was at didn’t have gruyere, but they were still intensely good! I also forgot the sea salt and pepper; I did brush the tops with butter because I don’t like the floury look on biscuits.
I was just giving your sour cream and cheddar biscuits the side-eye (the ones that go along with your beef chili recipe) because they contain only 2 tbsp butter. This recipe looks much more my style, and more what I’m used to with biscuits. I like Shannon’s grandmother: it’s a sorry biscuit that can’t grease its own pan. And I bet these would accompany chili just fine.
YUM! Reminds me of the asiago cheese rolls from Cheeseboard in Berkeley (http://www.cheeseboardcollective.coop/cheese_bakery/bread/69) – which are definitely worth making (recipe in their cookbook, which is AWESOME)
For Chrissy– clean a cast iron pan with salt. A little pile of dry, preferably coarse, salt in the pan and scrub with a paper towel folded into a pad. Then (optional) rinse in running water; finish by (required) adding some olive oil and with another paper towel spread the olive oil on all surfaces and put the pan away. Or use it to cook.
Each ‘next’ time I use a pan I wipe that old oil out with a paper towel and then preheat the pan and then add more olive oil to be ready for cooking.
I opted for gouda, because we had it on hand, and added some crispy diced bacon. I also used a smaller cutter, which gave me 21, so half are frozen to go with the homemade soup that’s on tap for the weekend. Delicious.
I love what Shannon’s (#91) grandmother would have said:”it’s a sorry biscuit that can’t grease its own pan.” I can totally hear one of my Texas-born grandmothers saying that!
For Meg: my son won’t eat egg yolks, though he will have eggs baked into things (cakes etc). I used to have a boiled egg for breakfast, and he kept wanting to steal some of the white. So now if he wants egg I make it poached in one of those poachpods and scoop the yolk whole out of his before it goes in, so he just has white. I get double yolk eggs, and something that will still be a little runny when his is hard poached. Win all round.
Oddly, he sometimes has scrambled eggs when we stay at hotels, but not at home, where he sees that it includes the yolk. We don’t stay at hotels often though.
He’s 6, for ref.
OK, now that sounds good!
I’ve made blue cheese and scallion biscuits, cathead style. Trying this one tonight.
BTW, no sugar in biscuits. Just saying.
Absolutely delicious and scrumptious and my new favorite and I need to make them again, immediatelyrightnowpleaseokthanks. My onions took FOREVER to caramelize, though. Maybe it’s my stove? They always seem to take over an hour to get anywhere near caramel-color. I took them off after an hour (because I couldn’t stop eating the cheese cubes), but they were only golden. Still amazing.
Made these tonight. They’re pretty good. A few notes:
1. Thanks for at least being in the ballpark for how much time it takes to caramelize onions. I laugh at the “8 to 10 minutes” most recipes state. However, your time is still way shy. Took me over an hour. But then I plan for that based on experience.
2. When the onions were the color I liked, I threw in some chunks of prosciutto and browned them for a couple of minutes. Good choice.
3. No sugar. Sugar in biscuits is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. No sugar in biscuits, no sugar in cornbread. In this instance, the onions are already plenty sweet and need no help.
Oh, and
4. Why is it that no biscuit recipe ever cooks in the time listed? Everything else does but for me biscuits are always way off. These went 15 minutes over and could have stood to go another 5 or maybe even 10.
Oh man, biscuits that don’t require yeast/rising AND they have caramelized onions? YES PLEASE.
I’m in diet mode so I had a panic attack at the idea of 3000 calories of junk, that’s like two bags of potato chips! but I think this recipe would scale down by 4 or even 6, using a digital scale (or bisquick) and still split in 3 servings or save for a cheat day. Which might also be a solution to cookies, also. It makes me wonder if baking recipes in the 70s were for half or less yields than today. Anyone have an old joy of cooking?
I think it would be okay to replace some fat and salt with bacon, without losing all flakiness?
RG1 — I vote for scaling the recipe down or just making them smaller (3 inches makes for a massive, almost meal-sized biscuit, IMHO). But, though I’m hardly a model of good diet, I’d rather have a bite or two of something perfect than a larger amount of something compromised in taste/texture.
I made this yesterday night, left them in the fridge overnight and then baked them in the morning for a scrumptious breakfast. The recipe halved yielded 6 biscuits of the size mentioned here which I am obviously not complaining about :)
Like commenter above DJS, my dough was quite wet, I needed to flour my counter a lot for it not to stick, and knead it on the counter a bit for the dough to absordb some of the flour before I could make the shapes. So I was very surprised because your recipe said the dough would be a bit dry (and uncharacteristically I made no substitutions). Anyways these were delicious and my husband enjoyed them too.
So delicious!
It took my onions 90 minutes to caramelize!!! I hate this awful electric range in our apartment. I’m so glad the biscuits came out incredible, otherwise I might have cried. Might try making the onions in advance next time, and maybe an egg wash too.
Anything with caramelized… I’m in! This will go great with the tomato jam I made earlier :)
Made these yesterday for an all-SK brunch I hosted and they were hands-down the favorite dish. I used the cave-aged gruyere that Whole Foods has on sale right now (at least in Chicago) and I think that pushed them over the edge from delicious to outstanding. The dough was a little dry for me at first, so I just added an extra splash of milk. May I just say that they are the perfect accompaniment to SK’s eggs in spinach and mushrooms? Thanks, Deb, for a great recipe!
Thx for recipe, made them for the Superb Owl yesterday and they are delicious. Sharp cheddar instead of Gruyere was not a deal breaker. I choose to cut biscuits in triangles rather than having to re-roll. I would leave the sugar out next time. Here’s a link to Alton Brown’s microwave method for carmelizing onions: http://altonbrown.com/how-to-make-caramelized-onions-in-the-microwave/ . Works great!
I made these and they were delicious! Thank you! PS the addition of serving with thinly shaved aged ham put this over the top!
Made these for dinner tonight and my husband and I decided the cheese crispies on the edge of the biscuits tasted like fancy, very delicious cheez-its. I’m considering turning this into a breakfast extravaganza with maybe a little… Bacon in the dough? ;)
Thanks, Deb. Been reading and cooking from your recipes for years (I’m a youngin’, so since college hehe), but this is my first comment. Thank you helping me make so many memories alongside wonderful people with delicious food! This biscuits are one of many many favorites.
Omg! This looks truly amazing! I love gruyere and I love onions! I can see myself eating this with a lot of butter, a strong cheese and some sweet apricotmarmelade together with a fruity cup of tea! Thank you! Brunch next!
I just made these and my roommate and I polished off a few right out of the oven. So good! They’re lunch with tomato soup (per some above comments) this week and I also froze a few with parchment paper in plastic bags. Delish!
I just tried these and they turned out great! French onion soup and biscuits are two of my favorite things, so I was thrilled to find this recipe. We made mini ones, and my housemates and friends all loved them. Thanks so much for this recipe!
I made these for breakfast for dinner last night and they were a huge hit with the family! Absolutely delicious! I just ate one leftover with soup for lunch- although not as good as when they were first made, I put it in the microwave for about 10 seconds and it was still delicious!
I am definitely making these! Probably with the beef & cognac stew. They look and sound divine!
Perfect dinner with a bowl of greek red lentil soup (from here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0968862306)! Even my 4-year old loved them, which is a sufficiently rare event that I was overjoyed!
I made these today and they were delicious! I had them with a simple noodle soup. The dough was a bit dry, as indicated, but came together with some manual kneading.
That looks really delicious.
I’m definitely going to have to try these, Hubs is a gruyere fan.
Delicious, but the sweet detracted from the savory. I’ll leave the sugar out next time. We used smoked Gruyere which didn’t melt ( yummy but still in cubes). Next round no sugar and grated or more melty cheese. Thanks as always for fantastic food, Deb.
Holy heaven. Biscuits are 100% acceptable for dinner. Onions are a vegetable, so that counts as something. Can’t wait to give these a try!
Making these tonight- breakfast for dinner is the plan! My grocery store only had huge yellow onions, so I purchased shallots instead. I hope this substitute will work? We are really looking forward to trying these!
Popping in weeks later, now that I am finally getting around to making these: I swapped out the gruyere (which no one in my family likes, except me and mom always loses those battles) for sharp cheddar and some parmigiano-reggiano. The house smells flipping amazing right now. Cannot wait to dig into these for brunch. Yum yum yum.
Yum! There’s few ingredients left in my fridge (next snow storm coming), but two of them are onions and a hunk of gruyere that didn’t become quiche last week. They may be re-directed into these scones/biscuits instead. Yay!
I just want to say that I have now made these gorgeous and delicious things twice (once under what I shall refer to as peerpressure-duress), and that they are a dream and a half. I don’t own a 3-inch cutter, so I used a water glass with a wide opening as one (I am a grad student. Budget is limited), making the biscuits slightly smaller, and thus yielding 16 beautiful golden pieces of heaven. I popped 4 of them in the oven right away – happily urging my roommate to rush to the oven window towards the end “looooooook! They’re OOZING CHEESE!” – and froze the remaining pre-cut biscuits for many a happy meal/snack. Possibly the most delicious vehicle for eggs as a breakfast sandwich in the history of time. I am eternally grateful, and so are my friends and family.
These look so flaky, so delicious I’m drooling. Love the Gruyere addition to these buttermilk bad boys!
I would love your beef taco recipe!! Love your recipes and writing, Deb!
First, I love these biscuits and have made them several times already, so thank you Deb! When I made them yesterday, I came across the dreaded wet dough. I’d kept everything chilled, so warm butter wasn’t the problem–but I’d left the onions soaking in the buttermilk while I watched Downton Abbey (…no regrets). I suspect the onions soaked up too much moisture and the flour mix couldn’t stand up to it. Haven’t baked them yet, since I froze them for meals later this week, but I’m sure they’ll still be tasty but not flaky.
It may have been overkill, but I paired these with french onion soup. It was heavenly, gooey goodness.
Just want to say thank you for this recipe – these biscuits are so delicious and we couldn’t help but eat a few each the first day I made them. The few that made it to the freezer tasted just as great with breakfast a few days later!
These biscuits look lovely! I’m thinking about taking them to a brunch this weekend. Deb – What’s the best way of re-warming? Oven, toaster oven, microwave?
Grace — Oven or toaster on low.
Can I make the dough and freeze? I’m wondering if it will still taste yumm
Dorothy — I froze these unbaked and baked them right from the freezer. They were excellent — even the one I found (oops) months later!
Just made a double batch of these for brunch later this week. I froze them — except just one that I baked to taste. SO AMAZING. Any advice on baking from frozen? Above you say you let them thaw a bit before baking. I’d like them fresh from the oven for the brunch. Should I thaw in the fridge the night before? Or just pull them out of the freezer for a while before baking? So, so, good. Thank you!
Deb, any estimate on the quantity of caramelized onion in this, instead of the amount of onion to start with? I’m making a massive pile of caramelized onions for multiple dishes, a batch of these included. It looks like maybe somewhere around 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup when I eyeball your photos?
Made these tonight. Ate them with eggs and kale, pecorino, walnut, raisin salad of yours (b/c we are just obsessed with that salad!). For me, the onions, on low (setting 2 out of 10 on my electric stovetop) literally took an hour to caramelize to the color in your pictures – but that’s normal for me… I like “low and slow.” Otherwise, things went as planned. Husband loved them – me too… dipped in gooey egg yolk made them even better!
Breakfast again the next morning! They sliced in half nicely, popped into the toaster on low setting…. turned out great! Actually maybe even better?
Rachel — I’d say 1/2 cup, but didn’t check. Small plate shown there; 1/2 should be plenty.
Oh my! So glad I directly made the double recipe AND put one half directly in the freezer. They are amazing! Now waiting for someone to take the baked half away from me, or I will seriously eat all of them. At once. Now. Btw I didn’t have buttermilk so I mixed yoghurt and milk instead.
Truly love your recipes, Deb, thank you for keeping this up!
Your biggest German fan :)
OMG! I just made these. Had to sub in sharp cheddar because I’m out of gruyere, but they were delicious!!! Thank you for the great recipe and idea!
I’ve made loads of your recipes before (all successful and delicious) but this is the first time I’ve felt compelled to comment. I’m not usually a scone/biscuit lover but this one seemed a must try. I made it on the spur of the moment just to entertain myself… but ended up feeding the results to seven people for lunch, paired with loads of Irish butter, slow roasted tomatoes and a few slices of ham. Unbelievably delicious and a success with everyone including an onion hating 9 year old.
Necessity did force me to make a couple of tweaks to the recipe… comté instead of gruyère, red onions instead of white, an egg glaze on top (because I couldn’t stop myself) and a smaller cookie/biscuit cutter because I’m more comfortable with the size of Irish scones than US biscuits plus I wasn’t sure that my Rayburn range with it’s totally random temperature control would cook such large scones through.
The scones were melt in the mouth oomami gorgeous and a humble showstopper. I’m going to be making these again and again. Thanks!
These are amazing! This was my first time making biscuits and your directions were so easy to follow. I used apple smoked gruyere and serving these with Irish butter is so delicious!
Could I make the dough for these in advance and bake them the day of? I’m literally cooking my entire thanksgiving dinner off this site and I need to do as much prep as possible. PS you’re amazing!
Could you freeze these unbaked and then cook frozen? Or would the onions in the dough not freeze well?
Thanks for your great recipes. You should try the sweet potato biscuits from the November Southern Living, excellent! And they are good baked from the freezer.
No, they should freeze fine.
Long shot question here…Do we think I could make these, freeze them unbaked and then thaw in fridge overnight and bake? I usually give family members unbaked homemade cinnamon buns on xmas eve but I want to change it up.
I make batches of caramelized onions and freeze them to use on, well, everything. I’d think I could use those for these biscuits. Can you tell me what the approximate volume of the onions is once they are cooked?
I made a batch of these and frozen them, in preparation for Thanksgiving. Baked one (from frozen) last night to try it, and man, is it delicious. Thanks for a great recipe – I know my family will love these!
These biscuits were amazing. I made the mixture and put it back in the fridge for an hour, took them out, rolled them out and put them in the oven. Everyone loved them.
I just made these and YUM. My dough was significantly stickier than you said it should be, after I added the buttermilk-onion mix and it seemed like a cup of buttermilk was way too much. I added more flour so it’s fine, but what did I do wrong?
Did they bake up well?
I made these, in a roundabout sort of way, and they were delicious! Just as good the day after, as well.
Can I prep the onions beforehand (like the night before) to save some time in the morning? Would anything be lost flavor/texture-wise?
I made these for my parents and wife last night to have alongside the Balthazar Mushroom Soup. Both delicious!!
I made these for Thanksgiving and doubled the recipe. They we’re good, but not as good as the SK’s cream biscuits that are normally my go-to recipe. Next time, I will save myself the time and money and just stick with that solid recipe, for it is a fine one. This one is good, but not as good.
I often sub yogurt for buttermilk when baking cakes. Any thoughts on whether that would work here?
In biscuits it usually works too, but thickness can be an issue. You might thin it with 1 tablespoon of milk.
Welp, these are incredible. Might swap out sharp cheddar next time for a cheesier punch, but otherwise probably the best biscuits I’ve ever made!
I’m curious if anyone has tried this with a dairy-free milk, such as oat milk?
These are delicious and pretty easy (if you get over how long caramelized onions take And use a food processor) but omg so good I danced around my kitchen sampling them. Thank you thank you thank you Deb!
Just wanted to say thank you for the Ultimate Banana Bread recipe. Just tried it for the first time as a quarantine treat and my husband loved it. He said it was the best banana bread he has ever had. I think next up are the caramelized onion and gruyere biscuits. Thank you!!
These were AMAZING! I wish I’d seen the suggestion to freeze 1/2 when I made them tonight so I didn’t overeat these delicious biscuits.
These are delicious! I used leftover caramelized onions from the butternut-squash-ricotta toasts on this site, and they were great. Also used sharp irish cheddar and OH the crispy cheese bits on the pan are so. tasty. Glad I made a half recipe, because they might not last the day. Next time I would egg wash, as they didn’t get a nice color on top (though they were cooked).
Do you think I could freeze the dough and bake them later?
Absolutely
Lovely biscuits. I made them and we ate them all. I made some mistakes but they still turned out great.
Hey high altitude friends (5000’+)! Reduce the baking powder by as much as 1/4 tsp and the baking soda by ~1/8 tsp in order to get rid of any alkaline flavor from the unactivated leaveners. I would also suggest raising the temp by 25 degrees F and reducing the baking time to 16-18 minutes.
Is there a way to do this without the onions and not have it be too dry? Should some, all, or none of the olive oil and tablespoon of butter be added directly to the dough?
I haven’t tried it without but my hunch is that the onions don’t provide a huge part of the moisture so you’ll probably be okay. If it seems to dry, you can always add a tablespoon extra of buttermilk or cream.
Would these biscuits still be as amazing if I subbed parmesan or another cheese? Any suggestions?
I use any cheese I have on hand. Parm does sound good.
These biscuit are amazing! I made ours gluten free by using a 1:1 gf flour blend with an addition of a little extra xanthum gum. I have many any cheese that we had on hand mostly mild to sharp cheddars. I have added smoked salmon and dill, or chives. Any combination seems to be our new favorite. Thanks, Deb, for my new go to biscuit recipe.
Hi! I made these last night and WOW, amazing. I want tot run freezing some next time, what would you recommend for baking from frozen? Just let them thaw and bake as usual or any adjustments to temp/time?
I made these and was surprised not to enjoy them as much as the other scones on and biscuits on this site (which are phenomenal). Something about the texture. Might have been an issue with the homemade buttermilk I tried not curdling?
These are incredible. I didn’t have Gruyère, so used Swiss instead, and subbed red onion and a shallot for the small onions. Ridiculously good. This morning I have sliced one in half, toasted it, and made a sandwich with bacon and egg. This is a keeper recipe.
I am 2 weeks away from my due date with baby #1…and for some reason decided I NEEDED to make these at 8pm last night. They turned out…amazing! Crumbly with gooey cheese bites #drool! I will be making another batch of the dough for the freezer. Thank you! -Alison
Oh my goodness. These were perfect. We had Camembert and a Belgian aged cheese, which is similar to Gouda. No need for extra butter, and we froze half for later. Thank you for sharing.
Incredible, they smell almost as good as they taste, thanks for the recipe!!!
How did I miss this post? Seven years without these biscuits in my life? Fixing that now!
Smallish ones of these sound good as a nibble with drinks. Think instead 9f gougeres.
These are incredible. I’ve made them several times when we have friends come over for breakfast/brunch. They are always a hit. Most recently I made with a sharp cheddar, works just as well! I do find that the onions do always take quite awhile to cook, and I’ve now done them on a gas stove and an electric stove – takes more than 45 minutes regardless. But totally worth the wait! I also cut them into squares most recently and it worked out wonderfully! Saved some of the time lost on the onions. Thanks, Deb! Another kitchen classic. :)