Cheddar Bay Biscuits are a great sidekick for any meal. If you’ve ever been hooked on the warm, cheesy, garlicky biscuits at a certain seafood restaurant, this recipe is about to make your day. Skip the takeout and enjoy these buttery, flaky biscuits straight from your own kitchen.

Serve these biscuits alongside your own broiled red lobster tails or your own endless coconut shrimp.

Why Our Recipe

  • Loaded with sharp cheddar and garlic for a flavor that’s totally crave-worthy.
  • Super simple to whip up with ingredients you probably already have.
  • Topped with buttery garlic goodness—just like your favorite restaurant biscuits!
An overhead view of a bowl of cheddar bay biscuits.

These biscuits are so easy to make and they use simple ingredients you probably already have on hand. They bake up soft, fluffy, and golden brown with plenty of sharp cheddar and garlic in every bite. Brush the buttery garlic topping on as soon as they come out of the oven and it makes these little things absolutely drool-worthy.

Ingredient Notes

An overhead view of the ingredients needed to make cheddar bay biscuits.
  • All-Purpose Flour: Stick with all-purpose for best results. Bread flour also works. Flour substitutes are best suited for recipes designed specifically for it.
  • Baking Powder: Gives those biscuits a little lift. Just make sure it isn’t expired.
  • Sugar: Just a touch of sweetness to balance out the savory garlic goodness.
  • Garlic Powder: The star flavor here! You could even add a little more if you need extra garlic.
  • Salt: Just the regular table salt here.
  • Butter: For the best results, use cold butter. Grating it with a box grater makes it super easy to mix into the flour. You can also use cold shortening. Butter gives better flavor, but shortening gives a bigger puff.
  • Milk or Buttermilk: Buttermilk adds a little tang and gives a bigger rise on your biscuits, but either will work.
  • Sharp Cheddar Cheese: Make sure it’s sharp for the best flavor and freshly grated is preferable since it melts better.

Butter or Shortening

Butter brings that rich, buttery flavor we all love, and it helps give your biscuits a nice, crispy edge. The higher water content in butter releases steam as it melts in the oven, which is what creates those dreamy, flaky layers.

Shortening, on the other hand, is all about tenderness. Since it doesn’t have any water, there’s no steam—just soft, fluffy biscuits that melt in your mouth. The downside is that it doesn’t have that same buttery flavor.

For the best of both worlds, try a combo of half butter and half shortening (about 2 2/3 tablespoons of each). You’ll get the perfect mix of buttery flakiness and tender fluffiness. Or try using butter flavored shortening.

Buttermilk or Milk

Buttermilk gives your biscuits a little tangy kick. Plus, the acidity in buttermilk reacts with the baking powder to give your biscuits an extra boost, making them lighter and fluffier.

Milk works absolutely fine. Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense to keep buttermilk on hand when you’ve always got a jug of milk in the fridge.

No Buttermilk? No Problem! You can make your own by mixing 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice into 1 cup of milk. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, and boom—instant buttermilk substitute without having to buy buttermilk for one recipe.

An collage of two images showing cheddar bay biscuits before and after baking.

Tips for Flaky Biscuits

There’s science involved in baking tall, fluffy biscuits. Cold ingredients, minimal handling, and just the right amount of heat all work together to create steam in the oven, which makes those biscuits rise like magic. The goal is to keep the butter solid until it hits the high heat, so it melts and releases steam while baking, forming light, flaky layers. With a few simple tricks, you can master the science behind the perfect biscuit rise!

Keep Everything Cold: Cold butter is your best friend for flaky biscuits. Stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes before grating it into the dough. Same goes for your milk or buttermilk—keeping everything chilled is the secret to biscuit magic.

Don’t Overmix the Dough: Once the dough comes together, stop mixing! Overmixing or kneading activates the gluten in the flour, which makes your biscuits tough, and nobody wants that.

Work Quickly: The faster you work, the better. Warm hands and a warm kitchen can melt the butter, so form and portion those biscuits pronto.

Chill the Dough if Needed: If your kitchen is warm or you’ve been handling the dough a lot, give it a quick rest in the fridge for 15–20 minutes before baking.

A close up view of cheddar bay biscuits on a baking sheet.

Give an Extra Flavor Boost

These biscuits can handle a little something extra if you want to kick them up a notch or experiment.

Bacon: Add 1/3 cup of cooked, crumbled bacon to the dough. These biscuits are begging for bacon.

Jalapeños: Dice 1–2 fresh jalapeños (about 1/4 cup) and fold them into the dough for a spicy kick. Don’t ever be afraid to bring the heat.

Switch Up the Cheese: Replace sharp cheddar with an equal amount (1 cup) of shredded pepper jack, gouda, or smoked cheddar. We aren’t cheese discriminant.

Storage & Freezing Instructions

Store leftover biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave for 10–15 seconds.

Freeze for later! Once baked and cooled, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Then, transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or airtight container. They’ll keep for up to 3 months.

To reheat from frozen, pop frozen biscuits into a 350°F oven for 10–15 minutes until warmed through. Or microwave them on high in 20-second increments until heated.

Serve your biscuits alongside…