Butter: Cornmeal Buttermilk Biscuits with Jalapeno Cheddar

These cornmeal buttermilk biscuits are so tender and savory! A regular here to make a kitchen-made jalapeno and cheddar butter to spread on them while warm!

These aren’t like any biscuits I’ve ever had before.

They are so extremely addicting I urge you to use caution and NOT make these on an empty stomach. If you do I cannot be held responsible for you eating three or six. Yes they’re that good.

To Make The Cornmeal Buttermilk Biscuits Set out:

• unbleached all-purpose flour
• coarse corn grits (or polenta)
• baking powder
• baking soda
• granulated sugar
• kosher salt
• unsalted butter
• buttermilk

This recipes call for corn grits, or polenta. Because corn grits have a lot larger “grain” than regular old corn meal, it creates a lot of necessary texture in these biscuits. And by texture I mean crunch.

Start off with a large bowl and add in 1-1/3 cups unbleached all-Purpose flour, plus more for work surface, 2/3 cup coarse corn grits (or polenta), 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon kosher salt.

Give it a good stirring until all those ingredients are combined.

Cube 1 stick of butter that’s been pulled straight out of the fridge… you want ice cold butter here folks. And simply plop it into the bowl with the dry ingredients.

Blend up that butter! If you don’t have a handy-dandy pastry cutter then what’s wrong with you… simply kidding… then simply try a dinner fork, but you might want to warm up your upper arm strength before you go at it with that fork!

Stir until all those lovely ingredients are combined. If it’s a little on the wet side, then only sprinkle in a little bit more flour.

Throw it down on a floured surface…

…and with your fingertips… pat it out.

Then, only like a letter, fold it into thirds…

..and pat it out again.

Stamp out your biscuits. I’m using a two inch cutter… but a three inch would work too! I also used the leftover scraps to get a couple more biscuits out of it.

Arrange them an inch apart on a lined baking sheet and pop them into a preheated 450° oven for about 15 minutes.

Remove once they have puffed up and the tops are golden. Let those cool a smidge before serving.

To Make The Jalapeño Cheddar Butter Gather:

• butter
• jalapeno
• grated sharp cheddar cheese

The day before I made these biscuits, I whipped up this butter. I knew I wouldn’t have the time while the biscuits were in the oven. And I wanted desperately to spread this savory butter in the center a hot biscuit like nobody’s business.

MAKE THE BUTTER!

So I roasted 1 jalapeño in a 400°oven and popped it in a bowl with some cling-wrap for like 10 minutes. And when it was cool enough to handle, I removed the skin, stem and seeds of the jalapeno and quickly minced that sucker up. I tossed it into a small bowl with 1 stick of softened (salted) butter and 1/4 cup of sharp cheddar cheese (about a quarter cup).

Give it a good mix and either use right away… or chill it overnight.

These biscuits have all those characteristics you’d expect… flaky, buttery-biscuit-y goodness but with a huge crunch from the corn meal. They are unbelievable and a cinch to make. The reliable addition to any meal… or they also make for an excellent midday snack.

Enjoy! And if you give this cornmeal buttermilk biscuits recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!