Cheesy Butter Biscuit Sticks

I had picked up one of those dry soup mixes at the local farmers Market last week. It was not the Mitchell's soup mix, but a locally prepared one. A chunky vegetable and bean one.
Today was a very cold day and so I fancied some hot soup for my dinner. I baked these Cheesy Butter Biscuit Sticks to go along with it. Its a good thing that I did, because to be honest the soup was not all that it was cracked up to be. I should have just opened a tin.

It had looked very promising. All you needed to add to it was a tin of chopped tomatoes and water. It was highly disappointing however. It tasted alright, but there was orzo in it and I don't like pasta that has cooked for 1 1/2 to 2 hours which was the required time to cook the dry beans in it.
I have one word for pasta that has been cooked for that long and it is YUCK! I would not buy this particular mix again.

I would, however, make these cheesy butter biscuit sticks again! They were delicious! I got the recipe from the pages of my Big Blue Binder so who really knows where it came from! Some book or magazine that I have read through the years I suspect.
What you have here is a simple biscuit dough that is rolled out, cut into strips and then rolled in butter. Once rolled in butter they are folded in half and placed into the baking tin. The butter is melted in the tin while you are putting the biscuit dough together, so you just cut the dough into strips and then roll and bake in the same tin. (If that makes sense and I am not sure I explained it correctly!)

There is no actual fat in the biscuit dough. It relies completely on the melted butter in the pan. There is however, plenty of nice cheddar cheese and some dried basil for flavor.
More cheese gets sprinkled on to prior to baking. These are really lovely. Crispy butter edges, crisp cheesy and buttery tops, soft and fluffy insides. Bake them. You won't regret it.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CHEESY BUTTER BISCUIT STICKS
Simple ordinary store cupboard baking ingredients, some cheese, milk and an 8-inch square baking tin. Simple.

1/3 cup (75g) butter
2 1/4 cups (315g) plain all purpose flour
1 cup (120g) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 TBS baking powder
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
Additional grated cheese to sprinkle on top

I always use regular salted butter. I can't afford to keep two kinds of butter in my kitchen unless the recipe will be drastically changed by using one or the other. For most recipes it doesn't matter. If you are afraid of salt and are using salted butter, just cut back on the salt needed in the recipe to make up the difference.
All purpose flour is plain flour. I don't recommend using self rising flour, but if that is all you have you can use it, just add an additional teaspoon of baking powder to the recipe and see how it goes. I cannot guarantee the results however as I have never made these with self raising flour.

Use a nice strong flavored sharp cheddar for the cheese in this. That will give you the nicest flavor! I used Cathedral City and added a bit of orange Canadian cheddar to it for color.
I also only keep whole milk in my kitchen. I buy the ultra filtered, lactose free milk because it is what lasts longest in my refrigerator. As a single person living on their own this is the most economical way for me to buy milk.

HOW TO MAKE CHEESY BUTTER BISCUIT STICKS
These are not as complicated to make as you might think. Mix, pat, slice, roll in the butter, fold over in the pan and bake. Scrumptious!
Pre-heat the oven to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6. Place the butter in an 8 inch square baking tin and set it into the oven to melt. This will take 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
While the butter is melting, whisk together the flour, cheese, baking powder, sugar, basil leaves and salt in a large bowl. Add the milk and stir it in just until the mixture is moistened evenly. (If the mixture seems to dry you may need a bit more milk.)
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead for 6 to 7 turns until smooth.

Pat or roll the dough out to a 12 by 6 inch rectangle. Cut into 12 (1-inch wide) strips.
Dip the strips into the melted butter in the pan, one at a time. and then fold each strip in half, folding them over on themselves. Place the folded strips in 2 rows in the same pan as you have melted the butter in.
Sprinkle more grated cheddar cheese evenly over top, to taste.

Bake for 23 to 28 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve warm with cold butter for spreading and enjoy!!

Notes

This produces soft sided biscuit/sticks. If you want the sticks to be crisper, then separate them after baking and place onto a baking sheet and return them to the oven for a further 5 minutes or so.

These are really, REALLY good! I served with with some hot soup. The end pieces were nice and crispy and the center ones a bit softer sided. The soup itself was nothing to write home about (a store bought mix) but these biscuit sticks more than made up for it!
I highly recommend. I am looking forward to having one this morning with a hot drink and some British marmalade. Yes, that's how I roll! Cheese and marmalade are perfect partners!

Some other quick breads/biscuits that you might enjoy are:
MILE HIGH GREEK YOGURT BISCUITS - When it comes to flaky, they don't get flakier than these Mile High Greek Yogurt Biscuits! Because the butter in this recipe is quite cold when blended in and is only coarsely blended into the flour mixture, when it melts it leaves lots of air pockets, which is what creates all of that flakiness! You will be surprised at how tall and flaky these delicious biscuits are!ONE, TWO, THREE BUTTERMILK BISCUITS - These tasty biscuits go together one, two, three, lickety split, and require only three ingredients. They are delicious split, spread with cold butter and served warm with soups and stews. Or with jams and other spreads. With chunks of cold meat and cheese.
Yield: 12Author: Marie Rayner