Ham and Swiss Biscuits

5 from 4 votes

My Ham and Swiss biscuits have cheese tossed into the dough and then ham, and even more cheese, layered inside, for flavor and texture in every bite!

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Total Time40

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American, Southern

Servings: Biscuits

Calories: 248kcal

Author: Cynthia

Equipment

Ingredients

2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter cold and cut in cubes
¾ cup buttermilk cold
4 oz Swiss cheese finely chopped
4 oz ham finely chopped
1 large egg for egg wash
2 tablespoon unsalted butter melted, optional
2 tablespoon honey optional
Pinch of kosher salt
Flaky sea salt (optional)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly butter a cast iron pan and set aside.
Finely dice both the Swiss cheese and the ham and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Toss the butter cubes into the dry ingredients and, using a pastry cutter or your fingers, mix in the cold butter until you have a mixture of flat pieces and crumbly bits of butter mixed into the flour. Toss in about ⅓ of your grated or chopped swiss.
Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the cold buttermilk. Gently mix it together with a spatula or your hands until you have a fairly uniform loose dough. It won't look all mixed in and that's okay. It will come together.
Turn out your dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pile it up and push the dough together until you can pat it into a big square. With a bench scraper or knife, cut into four smaller squares. Sprinkle ham and the rest of the Swiss on three of the squares.
Stack the pieces of biscuit dough on top of each other, finishing with the plain one on top. Smush it all down into a square again (the ham and Swiss will be all snugged into the layers). Repeat this cutting and stacking procedure 2 more times. This is how you form your flaky layers!
Pat or roll dough to ½ inch thickness. Use a biscuit cutter to cut into traditional round biscuits, or you can use a knife or the bench scraper to make square biscuits. If you use a biscuit cutter, dip it in flour first to make sure it doesn't stick to the biscuit dough. And remember: Do not twist as you cut the dough or you'll seal all the layers you created with the stacking technique!
Place the biscuits, sides touching lightly, on your parchment covered sheet tray or in your cast iron pan. Place the finished biscuits in the freezer while you preheat your oven, to firm up the butter before baking. Remember, cold butter creates steam in the oven, and that creates layers! (See where we're going here?)
Brush tops of biscuits with an egg wash made of one egg whisked with 1 tablespoon of water. Bake at 425° for 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned on top.
Next make your honey butter, if using. In a small pan, or in the microwave, melt the butter and combine with the honey. Stir in a pinch of kosher salt.
Brush with honey butter as soon as they come out of the oven, if desired. Sprinkle with a bit of flaky sea salt for a nice salty sweet combo, if you like. Let cool a bit before eating. Just a bit. We made beautiful Ham and Swiss Biscuits! We're amazing! Now, let's eat.

Notes

Don't handle the dough too much. Pat it out or roll it out gently to not only keep the butter cold, but to reduce gluten formation.

Place the biscuits in the freezer while you preheat your oven. This will help to re-chill the butter before baking.

When cutting out your biscuits, don't twist your biscuit cutter. Lift straight up. Just the simple act of twisting out the biscuits can seal the edges and keep your biscuits from fully rising.

Nutrition