Warm, buttery, and packed with cheesy, spicy flavor, these jalapeño cheddar biscuits are the perfect savory twist on a classic. Easy to make and ready in just 35 minutes!
If you've been searching for the best jalapeño cheddar biscuits recipe, you've found it! Soft inside, golden outside, and loaded with melted cheddar and bits of fresh jalapeño - these biscuits will steal the spotlight at any meal! This homemade cheddar jalapeño biscuits recipe is perfect for breakfast or holiday dinners, with chili and soups, or simply as a delicious snack.
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Tips for making fluffy biscuits
Homemade biscuits are actually easy and quick to make. Here are a few tips that will help produce a fluffy, flaky, soft biscuit.
- Use a kitchen scale! Measuring flour by volume (in cups) is "reliably unreliable"! If you must measure the flour in cups, use the scoop and level method for best results. If you need a scale, we recommend the Escali Digital Scale - it's accurate and easy to use.
- Keep it cold! Work quickly so the butter doesn't melt! If, at any step, the butter gets soft, place the entire bowl into the fridge and chill before moving on to the next step.
- Don't overwork the dough. Use a fork or spoon to mix wet and dry ingredients JUST until they are well combined.
- Fold the dough before cutting. For beautiful layers in your baked biscuits, pat the dough to a thickness of about ½ inch and fold it over on itself. Pat it down again until it's about ⅔ inches thick, cut the biscuits, and place them on a baking sheet.
- Chill the biscuits before baking. Place the sheet pan of cut biscuits in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or the freezer for 10 minutes before baking. This allows the butter in the dough to firm up again, which is crucial for creating the desired layers. During baking, the water in the butter will evaporate, resulting in a light and airy biscuit.
- Brush with melted butter before baking. This is totally optional, but we love the flavor (plus the look) of the biscuits when brushed with melted butter.
Ingredients
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and quantities.
- All- purpose flour. All-purpose flour produces light, fluffy biscuits. We've found there really is a difference in brands of flour and love the result in our baked goods when using King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill.
- Cheddar cheese. We used a medium cheddar that was pre-shredded, but use a sharp, aged, or white cheddar for even more depth of flavor. Shred your own for extra-credit!
- Jalapeños. Fresh peppers make this biscuit. We removed the seeds but feel free to leave them in for more of a kick!
- Baking powder. Use an aluminum-free baking power like Bob's Red Mill or Rumford. Baking powders with added aluminum, can produce a slightly bitter or metallic taste in your baked goods.
- Butter. Unsalted butter allows us to control the final amount of salt in the dish. Keep the butter cold!
- Milk. We used 1% milk, but whole milk or 2% milk will also work. We don't recommend non-fat milk.
- Other staples. Baking soda and salt.
Use a kitchen scale! Measuring flour by volume (in cups) is notoriously unreliable, so if you must measure the flour in cups, use the scoop and level method for best results. Our recipe lists the gram measurements and the volume measurements in the ingredients list.
Substitutions and additions
- Use pepper jack, Monterey jack, or a blend of cheeses instead of just cheddar.
- While the jalapeños don't overpower these biscuits, if you're not a fan of spicy heat, use a milder green pepper like Anaheim or poblano. For even more heat leave the seeds in the jalapeño or use some serrano peppers.
- Mix some crispy, crumbled bacon or diced green onions into the dough with the wet ingredients.
How to make homemade jalapeño biscuits
Cut the butter
Cut the sticks of butter into smaller pieces. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
PRO TIP: Remember to keep the butter cold at all times! Cold butter is key to fluffy biscuits. When the cold butter melts in the oven, the water inside turns to steam, creating pockets of air that lift and separate the layers. If the butter softens before baking, the pockets of steam are lost and you'll have a dense, heavy biscuit.
Prep the jalapeño
First, thinly slice one jalapeño so you have 24-30 slices. These will be used to top each biscuit.
Next cut the remaining jalapeños in half and remove the seeds. Slice each pepper into strips and then cut cross-wise into small diced pieces. Set aside until ready to mix the biscuits.
Mix biscuit dough
TIME SAVING TIP: For this large batch biscuit recipe, we're using our Cuisinart to quickly cut the butter into the dry ingredients. A food processor makes this step fast and easy compared to using a pastry cutter or your hands. That said, if you don't have a food processor, no worries, these biscuits still turn out beautifully - just grab your cutter or use your hands and remember - keep that butter cold!
Place flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Add the COLD, cubed butter and pulse a few times, following your food processor's instructions. Continue with short, quick pulses until the butter is broken into small pieces. Avoid running the processor continuously, as this can overmix and lead to dense biscuits. Once your butter is cut into the flour, transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.
Add the diced, fresh jalapeño and shredded cheese to the butter-flour mixture. Stir until well combined. REMINDER: if the butter starts to soften too much, pop the whole bowl into the fridge for 5-10 minutes to firm it back up before continuing with the next steps.
Slowly add part of the milk and stir to combine. Add the remaining milk (I like to drizzle it around the edges of the dry ingredients) and stir just until almost no dry ingredients remain. NOTE: A few small dry spots in the bowl is okay, they'll get mixed in when we bring the dough together. The dough may be shaggy - not smooth - and may not completely hold together yet, that's fine!
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured cutting board. Work quickly so the butter stays cold. Gently press the dough together until it holds and any remaining dry bits get mixed together. Lightly pat the dough out, then fold the dough over on itself. This fold helps create flaky layers in the biscuits.
Gently pat the dough to about ⅔ inch thick. Use a 2 inch round biscuit cutter and cut out as many biscuits as possible, transferring them to a silicon- or parchment-lined baking sheet. Gather the scraps of dough, press them gently back together, pat them out, and cut more biscuits. Repeat until all the dough is used.
No biscuit cutter? No problem!
Use a drinking glass or small bowl to cut biscuits into rounds or pat the biscuit dough into a rectangle and cut the biscuits into squares instead.
Top each biscuit with a slice of jalapeño and brush with melted butter. Place the sheet pan of unbaked, cut biscuits into the refrigerator for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven.
Once the oven is heated and the biscuits have chilled, place the biscuits in the oven and bake until golden brown and cooked through. Remove and serve!
Love biscuits? Try our bite-sized Mini Biscuits!
Easy to make and so cute to serve and eat!
Make ahead of time
These biscuits can be made ahead of time and stored baked or unbaked. Make sure biscuits are always stored in airtight containers.
- For baked biscuits
- Store in the refrigerator up to a week or freeze up to a month. Reheat before serving.
These biscuits have cheese, so we do not recommend storing these on the counter for extended periods of time.
- Store in the refrigerator up to a week or freeze up to a month. Reheat before serving.
- For unbaked biscuits
- Refrigerate overnight and bake in the morning following the recipe.
- Freeze up to 2 months. Remove frozen biscuits, place on a metal sheet pan, and place in a pre-heated oven for 12-18 minutes. Baking frozen biscuits will take a few extra minutes.
Freezing cut, unbaked biscuits makes it easy to bake the exact number as needed. - Do not place a cold glass or ceramic dish into a hot oven, as the temperature difference can cause the dish to break.
Saving Leftovers
The FDA recommends discarding any perishable food that has been out at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Since these biscuits have cheese in them, they fall in this category. Store baked biscuits in the fridge for up to a week or freeze them up to 1 month. Make sure they are always stored in airtight containers.
To reheat baked biscuits: If biscuits are frozen, thaw before heating. Place in a baking pan and cover tight - this helps keep them from drying out. Place in a 350°F oven for 5-8 minutes, uncover and heat an additional 3-5 minutes or until warm. You can also reheat in a microwave in 10 second intervals until warm. They can dry out fast if heated too long in the microwave so heat in short intervals checking after each interval.
Other favorite breakfast pastries
Some biscuit FAQ's
There are two main reasons that biscuits can be heavy and dense.
1. The butter is not kept cold. Make sure to keep the butter COLD! If it starts getting warm, place the entire mixture into the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes before adding liquid.
2. There is too much flour. Measuring flour by volume (cups) is notoriously unreliable. For best results use a kitchen scale.
Cutting in fat, in this case butter, is a common term in baking. It means to mix fat (butter) into dry ingredients in a way that evenly distributes the small pieces throughout the mixture. The intent is to coat the butter with flour while still keeping the butter in solid bits - not melting or fully blending it in. As the butter melts in the oven, it creates steam, which forms little air pockets, creating a flaky, tender texture in your baked goods.
You can 'cut in' butter using a pastry cutter, a fork, your hands, or a food processor. If using a food processor, be careful not to over-mix the fat and dry ingredients leaving a fully blended mixture which will lead to a drier, less flakey result.
NO! We use one because this is a recipe for a crowd and it makes cutting in the butter much faster and easier. You can cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or your hands for an equally fluffy biscuit. Remember a key is to keep the butter cold so work quickly and chill as needed.
This isn't a problem! Pat the dough into a rectangle and use a knife to cut your biscuits into 24 equal sized squares. For a perfectly smooth side on your biscuits, trim the edges of the dough before cutting into squares.
📖 Recipe
Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits for a Crowd
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 18-24 biscuits 1x
Description
Warm, buttery, and packed with cheesy, spicy flavor, these jalapeño cheddar biscuits are the perfect savory twist on a classic. Easy to make and ready in just 35 minutes! Vegetarian.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) COLD unsalted butter
- 4-7 medium sized jalapeño peppers - 1 cup diced (number will depend on the size of the peppers)
- 640 grams (5 to 5 ⅓ cups) all purpose flour - please use a kitchen scale!
- 38 grams (2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) baking powder
- 10 grams (2 teaspoons) baking soda
- 12 grams (2 teaspoons) kosher salt
- 1 ½ cup (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 cups milk
- 2 Tablespoons butter, melted (OPTIONAL)
Instructions
PREP THE BUTTER
- Cut the butter into 1 inch pieces and place in the fridge until ready to use.
PREP THE JALAPEÑOS
NOTE: We recommend wearing gloves while working with hot peppers and being extra careful not to touch your face, especially your eyes.
- Trim the stem off the jalapeños. Cut 1 jalapeño into 24 thin round slices. Set these slices aside, we’ll use them on top of the biscuits later.
- Deseed and dice the remaining peppers. You should have about 1 cup of diced jalapeño.
MAKE THE DOUGH
- In the bowl of a Cuisinart stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the cold cubed butter to the bowl and pulse until the mixture resembles small peas. This should only take a few pulses. Work quickly so the butter stays cold! Transfer to a large mixing bowl and use your fingers to break up any leftover large pieces of butter.
- Add diced jalapeño and shredded cheddar cheese to bowl and stir to combine.
If the butter is warm, place the bowl in the refrigerator for 10 minutes until it's cold again. - Add milk and stir until just combined. The dough will be shaggy, but not sticky, and may not completely hold together yet - that’s fine!
CUT THE BISCUITS
Remember to work quickly here so the butter stays cold!
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured cutting board.
- Gently press the dough together until it holds and any remaining dry bits get mixed together.
- Lightly pat the dough out, then fold the dough over on itself.
- Pat dough to about ⅔″ thick and use a 2" biscuit cutter to cut as many biscuits as possible. Place cut biscuits on a lined sheet pan.
- Gather scraps, pat out and cut. Repeat until all dough is cut.
- Top each biscuit with one slice of jalapeño pepper.
- Brush the tops of each biscuit with melted butter. (OPTIONAL)
- Place the biscuits in the refrigerator for 20 minutes while the oven pre-heats.
- Pre-heat the oven to 425°F.
- Once oven is pre-heated and biscuits have chilled, bake for 10-15 minutes until biscuits are lightly browned.
- Serve warm.
Notes
Jalapeños: The number of peppers will depend on the size of your peppers. You want 24 thin slices for the top and about 1 cup diced jalapeños. If your peppers are smaller you will need more, larger peppers you'll need fewer. Not a fan of spicy heat? Use Anaheim or poblano peppers for less spicy. Want more heat? Leave the seeds in the jalapeños or use serrano peppers for some or all of the jalapeños.
Food processor? Don't run the food processor continuously, use short, quick pulses to prevent overmixing. No food processor? No problem, use your hands or a pastry cutter to cut butter into the flour mixture until mixture is coarse and has small butter pieces throughout.
No biscuit cutter? Use a glass or small bowl. Cut into squares instead.
A note about baking powder. Use an aluminum-free baking powder for best results. Baking powder with added aluminum can leave a slightly metallic taste in biscuits.
Work quickly and keep everything cold! Handle the dough as little as possible and remember to pop the bowl back in the fridge to chill the butter if needed, especially before adding liquid. Chill the biscuits before baking.
Substitutions: Pre-shredded cheese works fine here, but you can absolutely shred your own if you want. Use any type of cheddar cheese (sharp, medium, white, or yellow) or substitute with Colby, Monterey jack, gouda, or pepper jack cheese. Sub buttermilk for the milk.
- Prep Time: 23 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 biscuit
- Calories: 215
- Sugar: 1.3 g
- Sodium: 1334.2 mg
- Fat: 11.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 22.9 g
- Protein: 5.4 g
- Cholesterol: 30.3 mg
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