Cheddar Fans
Submitted by moores
Cheddar fan biscuits made from layered biscuit dough stacked with sharp cheddar and butter, then baked in muffin tins. Flaky, pull-apart cheese rolls in 30 minutes.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
15 minREADY
30 minThese cheddar fans are pull-apart biscuits with layers of sharp cheddar baked right in. The technique is what makes them special: you roll out a basic biscuit dough, cut it into five strips, butter and cheese four of them, stack all five together, then cut the stack into pieces that go cut-side-up into muffin cups. As they bake, the layers puff and fan out into buttery, cheesy petals.
The biscuit dough itself is straightforward. Flour, baking powder, salt, and shortening cut together until it looks like coarse cornmeal, then mixed with milk into a shaggy ball. The key is a light touch: 10 to 15 gentle kneads, no more. Overworking biscuit dough activates the gluten and turns your flaky fans into tough hockey pucks.
Rolling to exactly ¼ inch thick matters here. Too thick and the stacked layers won’t bake through in the center. Too thin and there’s not enough dough between the cheese layers to puff properly.
Pro Tips
- Use sharp cheddar, not mild. The cheese flavor has to come through multiple layers of dough and butter. Mild cheddar disappears.
- Cut the shortening in completely until the mixture is genuinely cornmeal-textured. Larger fat pieces create uneven biscuits.
- Stack evenly so each muffin cup gets the same number of layers. Lopsided stacks bake unevenly.
- Serve hot. These are at their absolute best straight from the oven when the cheese is still melty and the layers separate easily.
Variations
- Herb cheddar fans: Add 1 teaspoon dried thyme or rosemary to the flour mixture before cutting in the shortening.
- Pepper jack fans: Swap the cheddar for grated pepper jack cheese and add a pinch of cayenne to the dough for a spicy version.
Ingredients
Directions
Grease the bottoms of 12 muffin pan cups.
Grate the cheese into a bowl, if not already grated and set aside.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.
Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or two knives, until the mixture resembles coarse corn meal.
Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the milk all at once.
Stir with a fork until the dough forms a ball.
Gently form the dough into a ball and put on a lightly floured surface.
Knead it lightly with the fingertips 10 or 15 times.
Roll the dough into a 12 X 10-inch rectangle about ¼ inch thick.
Cut into 5 strips and spread with the softened butter.
Sprinkle four strips with the grated cheddar cheese and stack the four on top of one another and top with the fifth strip.
Cut into 12 equal pieces and place on end in the muffin cups.
Brush the tops of the rolls with the melted butter.
Bake at 450℉ (230℃) for 10 to 15 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.
Serve hot with butter.
Comments
