Tex-Mex Beer Biscuits

It's nearly Fall, with just one more week until the official autumnal equinox. Leaves are turning colors locally, brightening up our gray days with great sweeps of neon reds and oranges on nearby hillsides. NFL season is in finally in full swing with team rosters set. (Go Hawks!)

You know it must be time for chili and cornbread and red plastic cups at tailgate parties... But this week I'd rather indulge in beer biscuits and pass on the bottled brews. Yes, I'm back on crutches this month and mindful of careful footwork and balance. So I will pass on the usual cornbread too, and reach for some more of these flavor-packed biscuits instead. They make tidier finger food with fewer crumbs but are still loaded with some of my favorite southwest flavors. Pepper jack cheese, bacon, green onions, chile powder...yum! Now I wonder how a waffled version would work???  

Tex-Mex Beer Biscuits

based on a recipe from the Beeroness

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar
1 tsp chile powder (a blend or ancho or chipotle)

1 stick (that's 4 oz or 8 tbs) cold butter, cut into small cubes

1/2 cup lite sour cream

2/3 cup beer

½ cup shredded jalapeño jack cheese

3 Tbs finely chopped green onions
3 Tbs cooked bacon, crumbled

2 Tbs melted butter

¼ tsp coarse sea salt (smokey bacon salt preferred)

   

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Oil a baking pan or spray with cooking spray.
3. Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor; pulse to combine. 
4. Add the cold butter; process until combined.
5. Add the sour cream, cheese, green onions, bacon and beer; Pulse until just combined.
6. Turn out onto a well-floured mat or board; knead lightly and pat into a rectangle, about 3/4 inch thick.
7. Fold the dough into thirds; roll lightly, once in each direction to about 1 inch thick. 
8. Fold in thirds again; roll lightly to about 1 1/2 inch thick.
9. Scoop with a cookie scoop, cut with a knife or use a floured biscuit cutter to form 12 biscuits. Place in the prepared baking pan.
10. Brush biscuits with melted butter and sprinkle the tops with salt.
11. Bake at 400 for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the tops are a light golden brown.