Name: Small-Batch Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 cup all purpose flour; 1½ tsp garlic powder; 1 tsp nutritional yeast (optional); 1 tsp baking powder; ½ tsp baking soda; ½ tsp salt; ¼ cup unsalted butter; ⅓ cup sharp cheddar (shredded); ½ cup milk

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On a regular weeknight, there are only three of us sitting at the dinner table. So, I cut down a great recipe from Taste of Home and gave it my own little spin to get small-batch garlic cheddar biscuits that we can enjoy with just about any dinner.

While one of us only has twelve teeth, she still knows how to put away a biscuit or two. The thing is, though, that I don’t really need to make a dozen biscuits for just us. Of course, you are more than welcome to double or triple this recipe to feed however many people are in your family.

Crock filled with garlic cheddar biscuits and shredded cheddar around it

When Do You Need Small-Batch Garlic Cheddar Biscuits?

I really want to tell you that you need them every night because that will mean you have to come back and visit my site. Ha! But seriously, you should make a small batch of garlic cheddar biscuits to go with any dinner where sauce needs to be mopped up.

So far, we’ve had these with turkey chili, shepherd’s pie, and a frozen cheesy ranch pasta dinner. In the next couple of weeks, I plan on making spaghetti and meatballs. We’ll probably make up more of these then.

Why Not Make More and Freeze Them?

No one is stopping you from quadrupling this recipe and freezing what you don’t use. It’s easy enough to grab some from a freezer bag. Just bake them at 450º for 10-15 minutes until they’re warm through and more golden on top.

For me, though, it takes 5 minutes to put together and about 10 minutes to bake. While the oven preheats, I can get the dough together and portioned out. It’s easy. Plus, I am not a fan of the “freezer taste” my frozen biscuits always end up with. Some people don’t notice it, though.

What’s the Deal with Nutritional Yeast?

The original recipe used chicken bullion powder, which I don’t have. What I did have was nooch (nutritional yeast). There’s not a lot in here, so it’s totally cool to skip it. Or, if you’re super into it, you could use even more.

There are nutritional benefits when you use 2 Tablespoons worth of nooch. It’s a good source of B1 and B2, protein, and if it’s fortified, B12. It’s great for vegans to boost their B vitamin intake.

Otherwise, it’s just a nice cheesy flavor booster. It amps up the cheddar while keeping the portion of cheese in the recipe small. But that brings up a good point. If you are vegan, you could use vegan butter, oat milk, and instead of the cheddar, use nutritional yeast instead of cheese.

Cheese pull interior shot of garlic cheddar biscuit

Small-Batch Garlic Cheddar Biscuits: Drop vs. Cut-Out

For small-batch garlic cheddar biscuits, my recipe calls for spooning the portions out. This is a drop biscuit technique. The dough is pretty wet and helps create a light fluffy interior because it’s only barely mixed. You just want to incorporate all the dry ingredients to moisten them, but you won’t mix beyond that.

If you use just shy of 1/2 cup of milk, you’ll find that the dough resembles the texture of traditional biscuit dough. So, if you want to, you could turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, roll it out and cut your biscuits.

This will take you a little longer, but your portions may be more even. The only thing I will recommend is that you cut the biscuits with a knife (square shaped) instead of a round biscuit cutter. There’s not a lot of dough, so you don’t want to waste anything.

Can You Make Garlic Cheddar Biscuits in the Air Fryer?

Updated 15 Sept 2020: Recently, I had a comment asking about how to cook these in the air fryer. To this person, I apologize for how long it has taken me to get back to you. Considering this recipe takes less than 20 minutes, it’s a wonder I couldn’t come up with an answer in a day.

But, to finally answer the question, let me start with the disclaimer that I use this Philips Air Fryer. It doesn’t require preheating or anything fancy. The results I got may not match your own. Therefore, I highly recommend you take the following assessment with a grain of salt and experiment on your own.

My Air Fryer Experiment

Here were my experiment parameters: in order to bake my biscuits, I simply set 3 of the biscuits (that’s how many would fit) into the basket. I tried a couple of different settings and here are the results.

400ºF for 11 Minutes

At 6 minutes and 400ºF, the exterior already looked overdone and just a shade too dark, but the center was not fully cooked. After an additional 5 minutes, the exterior was grossly overdone, and the interior was just barely cooked. I did not spray the basket first, and they stuck horribly to the grid.

350ºF for 12 Minutes

At 6 minutes on 350ºF, the exteriors were looking about right, but again (as expected, the interior was still not cooked. After an additional 6 minutes, they also appeared overcooked on the outside, but the interiors were yet uncooked. They also stuck horribly to the air fryer basket despite my attempt to spray it with nonstick spray.

Top view of garlic cheddar biscuits in terracotta crock

To make these edible, I broke down and tossed them into the oven, broken in half. Then I went back another day for a third test. The results were as follows.

325ºF for 20 Minutes

In order to cook these through and not overcook the exteriors while using an air fryer, you’re looking at setting the temperature to 325ºF and cooking them for 15 to 20 minutes. To reiterate my disclaimer, your air fryer may yield different results, so check them about halfway through to make sure you’re on the right path.

The Conclusion of the Experiment

Baking these in the air fryer doesn’t save you time in the long run. Plus, you can only cook 3 at a time, so it’s more than double the time to bake for a poorer quality result.

Additionally, the air fryer is a bit more intensive to break down and clean. This is especially true if you’ve lined your baking sheet with parchment that you can throw away. Then, you don’t have to do any dishes! I do not recommend putting parchment paper through the air fryer because I don’t want you to accidentally set fire to anything.

If You Want to Try Something a Little Crazy

If you want to spice things up, head over to my small batch chili-cheddar biscuit recipe! It’s a fun twist on this classic recipe in the same small portions with the same options for biscuit shape.

So, there you go. These are really easy to throw together. They take just minutes to bake. And frankly, any meal could be leveled up just by putting a couple of these on the plate. What are you waiting for?

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