Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits

2021. We all said it like a prayer on New Year's Eve — two-thousand-twenty-one, please be better, please. My mother hugged me at midnight and we both cried and didn't say why because we didn't have to. We've been through enough Donovan-family-adjacent grief to know when tears are just relief that you're still standing.

Back to work Monday and the hospital was full. Full in a way that made my stomach drop — not COVID full like the spring, but winter respiratory full plus the usual post-holiday admissions, and we were short three nurses on my unit because two had tested positive over break. I picked up an extra shift on Wednesday without being asked because that's just what you do, and Sean rearranged his whole week so someone was home with the kids. He didn't make a big deal of it. That's the thing about him — he just solves problems quietly. I married the right person.

Liam started asking questions this week that I wasn't prepared for. He pointed at a picture of my grandmother on the wall and asked if she was sleeping. I said she died before he was born and he looked at me very seriously and said, "Did she eat her vegetables?" I said yes, buddy, she did. He nodded like this was the correct answer and went back to his fire truck. I stood there for a full minute trying to process what just happened.

I made my grandmother's soda bread on Saturday, partly because I needed to feel her in the kitchen with me, and partly because I'd promised myself 2021 would have more baking in it. Nora sat in her high chair and gummed a soft piece of crust while Sean and Liam ate an entire loaf between them before it was technically cool. It was exactly what I needed. The bread, the kitchen, the noise, the mess. All of it.

The soda bread my grandmother made was never really about the bread — it was about her hands moving through dough, the smell of the oven, the way the kitchen felt full even when things outside it were hard. I don’t always have her recipe in front of me, but I always have buttermilk in the fridge and cheddar on the shelf, and these Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits come from the same instinct: mix something simple, bake it warm, and let the people you love eat it too fast. Sean and Liam will demolish a batch before they’re cool, and somehow that’s exactly the point.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 12 biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3/4 cup cold buttermilk, plus 1 tablespoon for brushing

Instructions

Preheat. Heat your oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and garlic powder until evenly blended.
Cut in the butter. Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mixture. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Cold butter is key — it’s what gives the biscuits their flaky lift.
Add the cheese. Stir in the shredded cheddar until evenly distributed throughout the flour-butter mixture.
Add buttermilk. Pour in the cold buttermilk and stir gently with a fork just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix — a shaggy, slightly sticky dough is perfect.
Shape and cut. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it to about 3/4-inch thickness. Cut with a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter, pressing straight down without twisting. Re-pat scraps and cut remaining biscuits.
Bake. Arrange biscuits on the prepared baking sheet with sides just touching. Brush tops lightly with the reserved tablespoon of buttermilk. Bake for 13—15 minutes, until risen and deep golden on top.
Serve warm. Transfer to a wire rack for just a minute or two — though if your household is anything like mine, they’ll be gone before they’re technically cool.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits — The Bread That Brings Her Back