I have a general rule of thumb about cookbooks, which is that the recipes have to jump out at me. I should be able to look at a recipe that says, “Make me!” like the food and drink in Alice in Wonderland – except, without the bizarre consequences. There are nuances, of course: sometimes all the recipes look so good that it’s hard to single just one out and then, sometimes, after making one you’re inspired to make another recipe. Or you see a recipe that inspires you to make a riff on it.

Such is the case with these biscuits, which are partially inspired and adapted from a recipe for cheddar chive and jalapeño biscuits in the Joy the Baker Cookbook, by Joy Wilson aka Joy the Baker. I’ve had the recipe bookmarked in my Kindle edition for ages and finally, as autumnal weather sets in – and grandly so, with a rainstorm – I made a biscuit recipe that took cues from her recipe and one of my own that I previously posted, for gluten-free baking powder biscuits.

I’ve made these biscuits now with the cheese cubed and grated, and either works. There’s a more likely chance for the cubed cheese to bubble and ooze out while baking, though, so you might want to take that into consideration when deciding which you would prefer.

In her recipe, Joy doesn’t specify how small the cubes should be, so I went by feeling. As I cut the cheese into cubes, I was struck suddenly by a flashback of watching Cinderella as a child, when she was scattering corn for the chickens and gave cheese to the mice. I really don’t know why, I always thought food in animated films looked so appetizing. Anyway. That’s another story.

If you want to spice it up, you can use one – numero one! – jalapeño, with or without the seeds removed, minced. (The seeds contain most of the heat.)

Note: I posted the wrong link for the baking powder biscuits recipe. I actually based it off of my first version of the biscuits, although you can also make them with the basis of my second version of the biscuits (with slightly different amounts of flour/starch and xanthan gum) here.

Cheddar and Green Onion Biscuits
Inspired by Joy the Baker Cookbook by Joy Wilson and this recipe

Makes 9 to 12 biscuits

120 grams cornstarch or tapioca starch/flour (tapioca starch and tapioca flour are the same)
112 grams millet flour
60 grams brown rice flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
65 grams unsalted butter, cold or room temperature (if cold, cut into small pieces first)
3/4 cup cubed cheddar cheese (cut small, about 1/2-inch cubes) or 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 green onion, green parts only, sliced
3/4 cup water
1 egg, slightly beaten

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix the cornstarch, flours, baking powder, and xanthan gum together in a large bowl. With your fingers, gently work the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly and it resembles the appearance of small peas.

Mix in cubed or grated cheese and green onions. Create a small well in the dry ingredients and add the water, some at a time, mixing with your hands until it’s formed into a dough.

Form dough into a ball and roll out between two sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch rounds with an overturned glass or biscuit/cookie cutter.

Place biscuits on to prepared baking sheet, brushing the tops of the biscuits lightly with the beaten egg. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Enjoy!