These High Altitude Butter Swimming Biscuits are baked with a whole stick of melted butter! They have a crispy crust with a soft, fluffy and cheesy inside. These are amazing in the morning, served with comfort food like fried chicken, chili or even made into a breakfast sandwich.
If you're looking for a super easy biscuit recipe look no further! These High Altitude Butter Swimming Biscuits are soft and fluffy on the inside while having the most delicious crispy outside edge. Not to mention, they are good with just about anything. Enjoy simply by themselves or make them to complete the ultimate comfort meal that the whole family will love. Plus, leftovers make the best breakfast sandwiches!
If you love butter, these biscuits are for you. After all, they are cooked in a whole stick of butter to make them soft, moist, tangy and delicious. These biscuits are so good, that I have two other varieties - Green Chile Cheddar Butter Swimming Biscuits and Cheesy Jalapeño Bacon Butter Swimming Biscuits. Just note that these biscuits were baked at sea level.
Why you'll love this recipe:
Not only is this recipe easy to make, but it has a:
- Soft, buttery, and fluffy inside and crusty outside
- Delicious with soup and chili
- Super easy to make
- 6 ingredients only!
- Biscuits in under an hour
- Use leftovers to make a seriously delicious breakfast sandwich!
- Addictingly delicious!
- No freezing, kneading or biscuit cutters needed
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Flour: I use all-purpose flour. I have not tested this recipe with other flour substitutes.
- Salt: helps enhance the flavor or the biscuits. I use kosher or sea salt.
- Cheese: thick cut works best for this recipe! Hand shred your own OR buy Tillamook's thick cut cheese. I used cheddar for this recipe but you can use triple blend, Mexican or whatever your favorite is.
- Baking Powder: helps our biscuits rise and be fluffy.
- Buttermilk: gives us tanginess. Can use store bought butter or make buttermilk substitute. See the substitution note below.
- Butter: we melt the butter right before put it into the oven. The butter soaks into the biscuits making a truly indulgent and delicious biscuit. I use unsalted since there's salt in our biscuit recipe.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Next, in a large bowl, combine all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder. Whisk until combined.
- Add in thick cut cheese to the dry ingredients and use a silicone spatula to evenly distribute.
- Next, add in buttermilk and stir with silicone spatula until just combined.
- When oven is finished pre-heated, melt butter in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute or until completely melted in the microwave. Then, pour hot melted butter in a 9x9 baking dish and swirl it around until it evenly coats the bottom of the pan.
- Turn biscuit dough into the baking dish on top of butter. Using a spatula or small offset spatula and spread dough evenly. Roughly cut the dough into 9 even squares.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown. Once you remove the biscuits from the oven. Let sit for up to 5 minutes, until butter is soaked into the biscuits. Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Measure Flour Correctly! Don't just scoop flour out from the bag. It will usually weight much more than what you need. I have a small digital scale, I like to use when I measure flour. But you can also try using the spoon and level method to more accurately measure flour. Learn how to measure your flour properly here!
- Don’t Open the Oven Door: when you open the door, while your biscuits are baking, you're letting heat out and letting cool air into the oven. This can result in the biscuits baking unevenly so keep the doors closed and make sure oven light is on to closely watch them.
- Get a Baking Dish with High Walls: this makes sure the butter does not overflow into the oven. You can also place a sheet pan on the rack underneath the biscuits to catch any overflowing butter.
- Use a Metal Spatula! The butter and cheese when baked creates the most amazing crusty bottom on the biscuits. A metal spatula helps make sure you can really get underneath the biscuits to ensure the delicious crispy bottom stays intact. Use something similar to this.
Recipe FAQs
I recommend melting butter after you've made the batter and the oven is fully pre-heated. You want this butter nice and liquid-y so that it spreads all around the biscuits and sometimes if you are making your batter the butter can harden into a solid while waiting.
I baked these biscuits at 5,280 ft! Check out this high altitude resource to adjust these cookies for your altitude.
Use High Quality Cheese! What makes these biscuits so amazing is the cheese! I recommend Tillamook Thick Cut or hand shredding your own for this recipe. Most grocery story cheese doesn't melt well in the oven which is why I don't recommend it for this recipe.
Substituions
- Buttermilk : In a bowl combined 1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar (NOT WHITE WINE VINEGAR) and mix it with 1.5 cups of milk (I used whole milk). Let it sit out for 10 minutes at room temperature until curds form.
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High Altitude Butter Swimming Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2.75 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups thick cut cheese I recommend tillamook farmhouse thick cut or hand sdredding your own
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 stick unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Next, in a large bowl, combine all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder. Whisk until combined.
- Add in thick cut cheese to the dry ingredients and use a silicone spatula to evenly distribute.
- Next, add in buttermilk and stir with silicone spatula until just combined.
- When oven is finished pre-heated, melt butter in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute or until completely melted in the microwave. Then, pour hot melted butter in a 9x9 baking dish and swirl it around until it evenly coats the bottom of the pan.
- Turn biscuit dough into the baking dish on top of butter. Using a spatula or small offset spatula and spread dough evenly. Roughly cut the dough into 9 even squares.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown. Once you remove the biscuits from the oven. Let sit for up to 5 minutes, until butter is soaked into the biscuits. Serve and enjoy!