Gluten-Free Cheddar Drop Biscuits

These gluten-free cheddar rosemary biscuits are cheesy, savory drop biscuits with sharp cheddar, fresh rosemary, and cracked black pepper in every bite. Cold butter gets cut into the dry ingredients for a tender, flaky texture, and the dough goes straight from the bowl to the baking sheet with no rolling or cutting. Twelve biscuits in under 30 minutes.

If you’ve had cheddar bay biscuits at Red Lobster, these are in that family but with rosemary and black pepper instead of garlic butter on top. They go with everything from a big bowl of broccoli cheddar soup to a holiday plate next to turkey or ham.

Ingredient Notes

• Gluten-Free Flour Blend – I tested this with Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour (blue bag), which includes xanthan gum.
• Unsalted Butter – Cold, cut into small cubes. The cold butter is what gives these biscuits their flaky texture. Don’t melt it. Work it into the flour with a pastry cutter or your hands until the pieces are pea-sized.
• Sharp Cheddar Cheese – Shred it yourself from a block for best results.
• Fresh Rosemary – Finely chop it so you get rosemary in every bite without big woody pieces. If using dried rosemary, use 1 teaspoon in place of 1 tablespoon fresh.
• Black Pepper – Freshly cracked, not pre-ground. The coarser grind gives these biscuits a little bite and more flavor than fine pepper.
• Milk – Start with 3/4 cup and add more gradually until the dough just comes together into a thick, paste-like consistency. I usually use a little less than 1 cup total.

Butter Tip

Keep the butter cold. If the butter gets warm before baking, the biscuits will spread and lose their flaky layers. If your kitchen is warm, cut the butter and put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes before working it into the flour.

FAQs

Pepper jack, gruyere, or a cheddar-jack blend would all work. Stick with a cheese that melts well and has a little bite to it for flavor.

Use a gluten-free flour blend that is meant to be a 1-to-1 substitution with regular all-purpose flour. I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour in this recipe, which already contains xanthan gum in it.

Expert Tips

• Cut butter to pea-sized pieces, not smaller. Some larger pieces are fine too. Those chunks of cold butter are what create flaky pockets as they melt in the oven. If you work the butter in too much, the biscuits will be dense.
• Don’t overmix after adding the milk. Stir just until the dough comes together. Overworking it makes the biscuits tough. A shaggy, slightly sticky dough is what you want.
• Use a cookie scoop for even biscuits. A large cookie scoop (#16 scoop) gives you 12 consistent biscuits that bake evenly. Leave at least 2 inches between each one so they have room to spread.

Storage Instructions

Room Temperature: Airtight container for up to 2 days. Best served warm.

Refrigerate: Airtight container for up to 4 days. Reheat in a 350°F oven for 5-7 minutes.

Freeze: Flash freeze on a baking sheet, then transfer to a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 2 months. Reheat from frozen in a 350°F oven for 10-12 minutes.

Serving Suggestions

These biscuits go with just about any meal that needs bread on the table. I make them most often alongside a bowl of my slow cooker sweet potato turkey chili or my quick and easy beef chili on cold weeknights. They’re also great next to a plate of gluten-free fried chicken if you want the full biscuits-and-chicken spread.