Cheddar Bay Biscuits
Cheddar Bay Biscuits- These easy drop biscuits are loaded with sharp cheddar, baked til golden, then brushed with a yummy Old Bay butter.
March 30, 2025 by Nicole Collins
Today, we’re making Cheddar Bay Biscuits!
The story of these biscuits has “If you give a mouse a cookie…” written all over it. If you get the reference, you’re my people. If you don’t, this is basically the story of how one action creates a chain of reactions that bring us right back to the original event.
In this case, I had a plan to make some soup. The night before, I decided the box of cheddar bay biscuit mix would be perfect alongside my soup. But when I went to retrieve the mix the next morning, it was gone! I’d either imagined (possible) or forgotten I’d used (more possible) the box I thought I had. So, I went straight to the Google machine to find an easy recipe to make at home.
The problem is that I searched recipe after recipe after recipe, and not one of them had any Old Bay in them. HELLO…”bay” is literally in the title of the recipe! How can you have cheddar BAY biscuits without the BAY??
So here we are…making this recipe for ourselves! Now, can I promise that this is the exact replica from the popular chain restaurant? No. I haven’t had those biscuits in YEARS, so I don’t really remember them. Can I promise you that these biscuits are heavenly and delicious? Abso-freaking-lutely!
To make our lives super simple, we’re starting our biscuits with an all purpose baking mix. The beauty of using something like Bisquick is that half the ingredients we’d need for biscuits are already built in: fat, baking soda, sugar, salt. It’s a shortcut ingredient that I’m not ashamed to use.
To the baking mix, we’ll add some milk, some garlic powder, some Old Bay, and a healthy handful of freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese. We want to shred the cheese ourselves for this one, because it’ll melt so much better into the biscuit this way. We also want to go for a sharp or an extra sharp cheddar so that we can really taste and enjoy it inside the biscuit.
When we mix the dough, it’s going to be thick. In fact, I usually get into the bowl with some clean hands to finish the mixing that my spoon can’t handle. Then, I like to use an ice cream scoop to portion out the dough, and arrange it on a prepared baking sheet. We don’t want or need to pack the dough too tightly. We want some rustic edges for our buttery mixture to be able to seep into. Now, since these biscuits are tall and sturdy, they need a little more time in the oven than the Bisquick box suggests. So, don’t panic! But in the end, the inside will be a mountain of fluffy goodness.
While the biscuits are in the oven, we’ll make a quick “glaze” with some butter, some garlic powder, some parsley, a little Old Bay, and a pinch of salt. I almost always invite garlic powder to the party when I’m making something with Old Bay, because they just complement each other so well. We’ll melt the butter with the spices, give it a good mix, then brush that glorious mixture all over those golden biscuits the second they come out of the oven. We’ll give the biscuits a few minutes to rest so that butter can really soak in. Then, it’s time to enjoy.
These biscuits…WOW. They’re fluffy. They’re buttery. They’re garlicky. They’re perfect. The funny part is that you wouldn’t really be able to pick out the Old Bay in these biscuits. The Old Bay flavor is not overpowering at all. But, Old Bay has this unique ability to add such beautifully subtle flavor when used in modest amounts. And, that’s exactly what’s happening in this biscuits. It’s so dang good!
I’ve never been so happy to not have an ingredient I thought I did!
Ok, everyone! Do you want to see the soup I made to go with these biscuits?? If so, stay tuned! It’s a GOOD one!
In the meantime, enjoy! And, let’s eat!
Cheddar Bay Biscuits
Serves: 8 Print
Ingredients:
For the Biscuits:
2 ¼ cups all purpose baking mix (like Bisquick)
2/3 cups milk (I used 1%)
1 cup freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese
¼ tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp Old Bay seasoning
For the Butter topping:
½ stick (4 tbsp) unsalted butter
½ tbsp garlic powder
½ tsp dried parsley
¼ tsp Old Bay seasoning
1/8 tsp salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
To a mixing bowl, add baking mix, milk, cheese, ¼ tsp garlic powder, and 1/8 tsp Old Bay. Mix until just combined and a dough starts to form. Use clean hands to finish mixing, if necessary.
Using a ¼ cup cookie scoop, scoop 8 lightly packed mounds of dough onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 mins until golden.
Meanwhile, add butter, ½ tbsp garlic powder, parsley, ¼ tsp Old Bay, and salt to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1-1.5 mins until melted. Mix until fully combined.
Brush butter mixture over biscuits, and allow to sit for 5 mins. Enjoy!
Recipe notes:
*We want to buy a block of cheese and shred it ourselves instead of using the pre-bagged stuff for this one. It melts way better into the biscuits this way.
*If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you can use a measuring cup and gently form the dough into mounds.
*Store any leftovers in the fridge. These biscuits reheat well in the oven at 400 degrees for a few minutes.
