Bacon-Cheese Biscuits

Last night I made a new soup recipe that I was really looking forward to: Beef and Barley. James usually gets hungry quickly after eating only soup for dinner so I was looking for something with a little filling power to add to the meal. I found the recipe for these Bacon-Cheese Biscuits in the newest Food Network Cooking magazine. They are by no means a "light" recipe, but James really liked them. He described them as "excellent". I thought they were ok, but I only really like biscuits when they are covered in jelly or honey, so I am not really the one to ask about these. I did omit a few things from the recipe, so I'll just give you what I made.

Bacon-Cheese Biscuits
4 slices bacon
2 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
scant t salt
6 T cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 c grated cheddar cheese
1 c buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. Cook the bacon until crisp, reserving two T of bacon drippings when done cooking. Chop bacon.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chopped bacon together in a medium bowl. Cut butter into the flour mixture until it is in pea-size pieces. (I used a pastry blender, but you could use two knives or your hands.) Stir in the cheese. Add the buttermilk and reserved bacon drippings and gently mix just until moistened.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead 3-4 times. Don't overknead! Pat out to about 1/2 inch thick, then cut into biscuits using a 2 inch round cutter. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. I was able to get 9 biscuits out of this recipe.

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes.