Honey Garlic Parmesan Biscuits

By Mariealicerayner @MarieRynr

I saw this Honey Garlic Parmesan Biscuit Recipe on Half Baked Harvest the other day and as soon as I saw it I knew this was a recipe that I wanted to bake.  I have never met a biscuit yet that I didn't like and these looked phenomenal!

When I talk about Biscuits here I am talking about North American style Biscuits, not British Biscuits (which are cookies.)  These are a quick bread which is quite similar in many ways to scones, but at the same time completely different from scones. If you were to set the two things next to each other and do a taste test you would see right away that the two things are not at all alike! 

Scones are heavier and more crumbly. I would say they are also drier.  Biscuits are usually as light as air and flaky.  (I mean look at the layers!)  They also tend to be more on the savory side than scones.

These biscuits are exceptional that I am sharing today.  They rise tall and flaky like a dream, with loads of buttery layers.  Add to that the surprising crunch of the addition of some cornmeal to the dough along with the moreishness of Parmesan cheese, and  just a hint of garlic. Lightly sweetened with a touch of honey, these are truly a biscuit to write home about!  Flaky, buttery, light, deliciousness!

 
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE HONEY GARLIC PARMESAN BISCUITS
A few simple store cupboard ingredients. If you use the best that you can afford to buy, then you really can't go wrong!
  • 2 cups (250g) plain all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (85g) medium grind cornmeal (coarse polenta)
  • 1 TBS (12g) Baking powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup (115g) cold butter
  • 1/2 cup (90g) grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup (240ml) whole milk
  • 2 tsp liquid honey
  • milk for brushing on top
  • 2 TBS butter to drop in the pan
 
Make sure if you are in the U.K. you don't use self rising flour. Use plain all purpose flour, and make sure your flour is fresh and not out of date. Out of date flour has a funny taste that is often unpleasant.
You could probably use fine cornmeal (Not the self rising kind) if you wanted to, but the coarser one will give you a nice crunch.
I grate my own Parmesan cheese.  I don't really like using pre-grated Parmesan.  Home grated has a nicer texture.
Make sure you use garlic powder and not garlic salt.  You can cut even further back on the salt if you are using salted butter, as Parmesan Cheese can be quite salty as well.
By liquid honey, I mean runny honey. Not the stuff that is solid or creamed.  I usually have a jar of Greek honey in my cupboard, which I really love.
 
HINTS AND TIPS FOR MAKING GOOD BISCUITS
First of all sift your dry ingredients together. This helps to make sure that all of the leavening is evenly distributed through the flour. If you are adding sugar or salt, this can get stirred in after you have sifted the flour, etc.
Make sure your fat is cold.  Cold fat will not melt as easily as warm fat would when you are rubbing/cutting the fat into the flour.
Also don't cut the fat into the flour until its really fine.  Make sure you leave some pea-sized bits of fat throughout.  These little bits of fat will melt and leave nice airy little pockets in your finished biscuit! 
A light touch is best when mixing up, patting/rolling your biscuits.  Over-handling makes for a much tougher result. So do not over mix/pat/roll them out.
When mixing wet ingredients into the butter and dough mixture use a well technique, much like pasta. Depending on the weather, use more or less flour. For humid days use more flour and cut back a bit on dry, hot days.
Bu the well technique I mean make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and then pour the wet ingredients into the well. Generally speaking I use a fork to mix the two together, taking care not to overmix.  Its okay if its a bit lumpy.
 
Try to work on a cold surface and with cold hands. You don't want to melt the fat with the warmth of your hands, so hand contact should be as little as possible.
When you tip the dough out onto the surface don't over-flour it. A little bit goes a long way. Basically you just want to be able to keep the dough from sticking to the countertop and the rolling pin if you are using one.
Patting out the dough, folding it in half, patting it out again and repeating this process a few times with give you lots of nice airy flaky layers in your biscuits.
About three times should suffice, and then you should be ready to cut your biscuits out. Today I used a 3 inch round metal cutter.  Make sure when you are cutting them out you use a sharp up and down tapping motion.
Don't twist the cutter. Twisting can cause your biscuits to be lopsided. You may end up with some that are lopsided anyways, but generally speaking you won't if you employ a sharp tap up and down.  Also, try to get as many cuts out of the first roll/pat out as you can.  Any ones cut from the repatted/rolled scraps will not be as nice to look at or rise as high.
 
HOW TO MAKE HONEY GARLIC PARMESAN BISCUITS
These are really quite a simple make. They go together like most biscuits. If you don't have an iron skillet you can also bake these in a large cake tin or on a baking sheet, but do use the iron skillet if you can. It makes for a really nice and crisp bottom!


Preheat the oven to 425*F/220*C/ gas mark 7. Butter a 10 inch iron skillet. Set aside.Whisk the flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder together in a bowl. Set aside.  Whisk the milk and honey together in a beaker. Set aside.Grate the cold butter using a cheese grater into the flour mixture. Toss it together with the flour using your hands. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.Add the milk/honey mixture all at once and mix together until the mixture is evenly moistened and can be drawn together as a dough. Do not overmix.Tip out onto a lightly floured board and knead gently a couple of times. Pat out to a rectangle that is 1-inch thick. Fold one third over to the center and top with one third from the other side. Give a quarter turn.Pat out again to a rectangle that is 1 inch thick. Repeat the folding and turning once more.

 
Pat out to a 3/4 inch thick rectangle. Using a 3 inch round sharp metal cutter, stamp out 8 rounds, taking care not to twist the cutter.


Place these rounds into the prepared skillet. Brush the tops with some milk. Drop bits of the extra butter around the biscuits in the skillet.Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 22 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Serve warm. (Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to two days. You an also freeze them.) 
I served these with a homemade Thyme and Honey Butter. It was delicious.  To make this butter (easily done while the biscuits are baking), whip together 4 TBS of butter, 2 tsp of liquid honey and 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves until light and fluffy.
Pile into a small dish and serve at room temperature.  Store any leftovers in the refrigerator, covered.
 
These were really delicious. They rose up really tall and flaky. A light touch is the key, plus all of the folding and turning made for plenty of layers.  They had a beautiful flavor.  These would go really well with any soup, salad, stews, etc.
I enjoyed one right away, fresh out of the oven with some of that homemade honey butter. Oh boy but was it ever some good!  I took half of them over to my sister's so that they could also enjoy them.  
I highly recommend you bake these!  You won't be sorry!
 
I am no stranger to the biscuit. I have been loving and baking them for many years.  In the old days I used to use shortening. Nowadays, more often than not I choose the healthier option of butter, a natural fat. Here are some of my all-time favorite biscuit recipes!


QUICK AND EASY BUTTERMILK BISCUITS FOR TWO - I have always loved Buttermilk Biscuits most of all.  I love the slight tang that buttermilk adds and I love the way they always rise high and beautiful in a hot oven. This recipe is perfect for the smaller household and makes only 4 beautiful biscuits. Six ingredients, one bowl, half an hour. That is all you need to create four perfect, soft and flakey tea biscuits from scratch. CREAM BISCUITS - I adapted the recipe from one I found in this old cookery book of mine, The Best of Pantry, by the Editors of Harrowsmith Country. They were meant to be used as a topping for a curried vegetable casserole, but I thought they would  also work very well on their own. I was right. They were beautiful. Light, flaky and incredibly moreish.

Yield: 8 beautiful biscuitsAuthor: Marie Rayner

Honey Garlic Parmesan Biscuits

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 22 MinTotal time: 37 MinSimple to make. Light, flaky, and filled with loads of flavor and texture. I made a whipped thyme honey butter to enjoy with them. See the recipe notes.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (250g) plain all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (85g) medium grind cornmeal (coarse polenta)
  • 1 TBS (12g) Baking powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup (115g) cold butter
  • 1/2 cup (90g) grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup (240ml) whole milk
  • 2 tsp liquid honey
  • milk for brushing on top
  • 2 TBS butter to drop in the pan

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425*F/220*C/ gas mark 7. Butter a 10 inch iron skillet. Set aside.
  2. Whisk the flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder together in a bowl. Set aside.
  3. Whisk the milk and honey together in a beaker. Set aside.
  4. Grate the cold butter using a cheese grater into the flour mixture. Toss it together with the flour using your hands. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.
  5. Add the milk/honey mixture all at once and mix together until the mixture is evenly moistened and can be drawn together as a dough. Do not overmix.
  6. Tip out onto a lightly floured board and knead gently a couple of times. Pat out to a rectangle that is 1-inch thick. Fold one third over to the center and top with one third from the other side. Give a quarter turn.
  7. Pat out again to a rectangle that is 1 inch thick. Repeat the folding and turning once more.
  8. Pat out to a 3/4 inch thick rectangle. Using a 3 inch round sharp metal cutter, stamp out 8 rounds, taking care not to twist the cutter.
  9. Place these rounds into the prepared skillet. Brush the tops with some milk. Drop bits of the extra butter around the biscuits in the skillet.
  10. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 22 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Serve warm. (Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to two days. You an also freeze them.)

Notes

To make the whipped honey butter:

Pop 4 TBS (60g) of room temperature butter into a dish. Add 2 tsp of liquid honey and 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves. Whip together with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

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