Cheddar Cornmeal Biscuits
This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy.
These cheddar cornmeal biscuits are tendery, buttery and perfect for as a side dish for a chili or soup, turning into a breakfast sandwich! Using cornmeal in the dough gives the biscuits a bit of color and texture as well. Ready in about 30 minutes or less!

I might be a little obsessed around here with making biscuits. And putting cheese in things. I love adding cheddar to my Self-Rising Biscuits. Like my Cheesy Dill Bread.
Cornmeal in the dough! What how come I’ve never tried making biscuits with cornmeal before? Genius. So as I was brainstorming fun recipes to share this spring and summer with you I thought it would be fun to take my Buttermilk Biscuits recipe and turn it into a cornmeal biscuit inspired by those biscuits from years ago.
Why You Will Love These Cornmeal Biscuits
- No Mixer Required– Homemade biscuits don’t require any fancy equipment. I use a pastry cutter, but you can honestly make these with just your hands!
- One Bowl – Woo hoo! Less dishes! The entire biscuit dough is made in just one bowl. I love one bowl baking recipes, don’t you?
- Ready In Minutes – Making homemade biscuits takes very little time. Takes me all of about 10 or 15 minutes before I’m ready to bake these.
Are biscuits the same as scones?
Simple answer. No they aren’t. Now here’s the longer answer…
Scones, like my blueberry scones, have eggs. Biscuits do not have eggs.
Ingredients to make these cornmeal biscuits
Ingredient Notes
- Cornmeal – I used yellow cornmeal for these cornmeal biscuits but white cornmeal would also work.
- Unsalted butter – I always recommend unsalted when baking. Different brands can use varying amounts of salt in their salted butter so it’s best to use unsalted and control the amount of salt you add. And make sure you use COLD butter, so you get flaky biscuits. If your butter is too warm, it will be absorbed into the flour which will not create those flaky layers you are looking for.
- Buttermilk – I love the flavor buttermilk gives to these biscuits. If you don’t have any on hand you can make your own buttermilk.
- Cheddar cheese – I stirred in a cup of shredded, sharp white cheddar cheese, but you could substitute cheddar for another hard cheese like swiss, gouda, or monterey jack.
- Chives – These are totally optional but the chives go SO well with cheddar. I couldn’t help myself and stir in some! You could also stir in another herb or scallions instead.
How to make this recipe – step by step
Making The Biscuit Dough:
- Combine Dry Ingredients. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and a little bit of salt. Whisk dry ingredients together and set aside.
- Cut The Butter In. Start by tossing the butter in the flour until it’s coated. You want to cut the butter in, either using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, until the butter pieces are about pea-sized. The mixture should be crumbly and there should still be visible pieces of butter.
- Add The Cheddar Cheese And Chives. At this point, go ahead and stir in the cheese and chives in until they’re evenly mixed in.
- Add the buttermilk. Stir in the cold buttermilk until a rough shaggy dough forms.
BAKING 101: COLD butter and cold buttermilk is key to flaky biscuits! You want the butter to stay as cold as possible, and in visible solid pieces. When the butter is in the oven will melt, and the water in the butter will turn to steam pushing apart the layers of flour.
Shaping The Biscuits
- Knead the dough. The dough will be pretty sticky at this point. Just pour the dough onto a lightly floured surface or one of these pastry mats. And bring the dough together gently. You want to handle the dough as little as possible. You want to pat the dough down and then fold in half. Repeat this 3 times to create layers.
- Cut out the biscuits. Pat the dough into a 3/4- to 1-inch thick circle. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out the biscuits. You want to dip the cutter into flour, and then press straight down. Cut out as many as you can then press the scraps together and continue cutting out biscuits until you’ve run out of dough.
- Bake the biscuits. I placed these cheddar cornmeal biscuits on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. I got about 8 biscuits every time I made these. I like mine a bit thicker so I tended to get about 8. I place mine together so they are touching which helps them rise and result in fluffy edges. If you want crispy edges then be sure to separate them.
HEATHER’S BAKING TIP: Twisting the cutter will end up in creating lopsided biscuits. Just press straight down and back up.
Recipe FAQ’s
You can bake these cornmeal biscuits on a cookie sheet, in a round or square baking pan, or in your cast iron as I did.ย
You can store the biscuits in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.ย
Orย you can freeze the biscuits in an airtight container for up to 3 months. I love putting them in a sealable plastic bag and squish as much air out as possible. They will thaw pretty quickly at room temperature. I also love warming them up in the microwave for about 15-30 seconds.ย Or freeze unbaked! I freeze them solid first on a baking sheet and transfer to a sealable bag. Bake frozen and add a few minutes of baking time.
More Biscuit Recipes
Cheddar Cornmeal Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (156 g) yellow cornmeal
- 5 teaspoons baking powder
- ยฝ teaspoon baking soda
- ยฝ teaspoon table salt
- ยฝ cup (8 Tablespoons, 113 g) unsalted butter cold and cut into cubes
- 1 cup (240 mL) cold buttermilk
- 1 cup (113 g) shredded cheddar cheese *see note
- 3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare pan. Preheat your oven to 450ยฐF. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat, or you can bake these in a cast iron, or lightly greased round cake pan.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Cut in butter. Using your fingertips, or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is pea-sized. (If using fingertips, squish the large pieces of butter until smaller). Mixture will be crumbly and butter still visible.
- Add remaining ingredients. Stir in cheese (see not about cheese) and chives until evenly combined. Pour in cold buttermilk and stir until a shaggy dough forms. If dough seems dry, add an extra tablespoon of buttermilk, until dough comes together.
- Knead the dough. The dough will be sticky at this point. Just pour the dough onto a lightly floured surface. And bring the dough together gently. Knead the dough by pressing the dough down into about a 1/2-inch thickness, then fold in thirds (fold the right side over, then left side over the dough). Repeat 3 times to create flaky layers.
- Cut out the biscuits. Pat the dough into a 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick circle. Cut out the biscuits using a 2 ยฝ to 3 inch biscuit cutter. Press the scraps together and cut out remaining biscuits. I get 8 thick biscuits.
- Bake the biscuits. Arrange biscuits onto either parchment lined cookie sheet, in a round baking dish or in a cast iron. For fluffy, pull apart biscuits place biscuits close together. For crispier edges, space apart. Bake for 15 minutes in center of oven until golden brown. Remove from oven, allow to cool on pan for 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to continue to cool. For best results, serve immediately and brush tops with melted butter!
Notes
- If dough seems dry: Some readers have said their biscuits were dry, this could be because of how you measured your flour. If when mixing the dough together, the biscuit dough seems dry and has bits of flour not worked in, add in a another splash (an extra tablespoon) of buttermilk to make for a soft, slightly sticky dough.ย
- Cheddar: Some readers have said these weren’t “cheesy” enough – although 1 cup of cheese was perfect for us, feel free to add an extra 1/4-1/2 cup of cheddar if you want them cheesier.ย
- Make Ahead/Storage: You can store the biscuits in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
- Freezing: Orย you can freeze the biscuits in an airtight container for up to 3 months. I love putting them in a sealable plastic bag and squish as much air out as possible. They will thaw pretty quickly at room temperature. I also love warming them up in the microwave for about 15-30 seconds. You can also freeze these unbaked. Place on a baking sheet and freeze solid then place in a sealable bag. They can be baked frozen, just add a few more minutes of baking time.
- Cutting out the biscuits: When cutting out the biscuits, press straight down on the biscuit cutter do not twist it or it will create lopsided biscuits.
- No biscuit cutter? If you don’t have a biscuit cutter use the rim of a large drinking glass, a mason top, or you can simply cut the biscuits into squares.
- Tender biscuits: For tender, fluffy biscuits, you want to keep your ingredients cold and handle the dough as little as possible.ย
- ย
I need to make 16, can I just double the ingredients?
Absolutely, you can double the recipe, no problem! Just be sure to use two pans. lol
Got fresh buttermilk and cheddar. Had high expectations but they came out dry. No cheddar taste. Nice looking in a picture.
Hi Jeannie, sorry to hear that. I didn’t have this issue when making these. Sometimes with biscuits you may need to add a touch more buttermilk if your dough seems dry, and you may have added too much flour – depending on how you measured. You can always add more cheddar as well to adjust to your own taste, but they were plenty cheese for us!
Everything about this recipe was awesome! I especially loved the buttermilk tip! Thank you from Canada โค๏ธ ๐จ๐ฆ
These were a nice change from my normal buttermilk biscuits but these were drier and the kids didn’t finish them. If I try them again I’ll use the larger size of shredded cheese so maybe it won’t disappear into the dough…
Sorry to hear that you found them dry, I’ve never found them to be the case. dry biscuits may be from too much flour added. I recommend measuring by weight or I use the spoon and sweep method. If the dough is too dry I add an extra tablespoon of liquid to help it.
This looks so good. Will be making some for breakfast tomorrow! Yummy!
I hope you love these biscuits Chichi as much as we did ๐
These come together so quick and easy. The flavor is perfect to go with chili!
Thanks Julie!! Yes perfect with chili ๐
These biscuits look amazing! So perfect for a delicious brunch.
Thanks Biana! Couldn’t agree more!
I’ve never made cornmeal biscuits before! These look amazing and would be perfect for a brunch or dinner. I love a good savory biscuit.
Thanks Aimee! Me too ๐
These were fabulous the whole family enjoyed them even our 4 year old delicious biscuits will make again!
Aw that’s great to hear Claudia ๐ glad everyone enjoyed them!