Stout-Cheddar Biscuits @MaddieDayAuthor #giveaway

MADDIE DAY here, excited to bring you a recipe adapted from Four Leaf Cleaver, which releases in eleven days! Yes, today is Friday the 13th, but these Irish-themed biscuits are bound to bring you good luck well in advance of St. Patrick's Day.

And I have the last ARC of this 11th Country Store Mystery to send one lucky commenter.

Stout-Cheddar Biscuits

Robbie’s baker friend Phil MacDonald made a streamlined version of this recipe for the cooking competition, and even then he barely finished in time.

Ingredients

2 ½ cups whole wheat flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar (not shown in Ingredients photo)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 cup (8 oz) Irish stout (such as Guinness) or other dark beer, cold

8 tablespoons cold butter

7 oz aged Irish cheddar or extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 egg (not shown in Ingredients photo)

Directions

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a medium mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together the Dijon mustard and Irish stout. Place in the refrigerator until needed.

Using a box grater, grate the butter, then quickly transfer it to the flour mixture and toss to coat all the butter pieces with flour.

Add the grated cheese and mix to combine, being sure to coat all pieces with flour.

Make a well in the center. Add the egg and stir with a fork.

Sir in the beer mixture with fork until barely incorporated. There will still be loose bits of butter, cheese and flour. Dump the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface. 

Knead lightly until it comes together. Roll out. Fold one side side half way up, adding in any loose bits, then fold the other side over top, like a letter.

Rotate 90 degrees, roll out and repeat the fold two more times.

Roll the dough until ½ - 3/4 inch thick. Cut with a biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits on a the prepared pan, then place the pan in the freezer (being careful the parchment paper doesn't slide off) or in the refrigerator if your freezer doesn't have room. 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

When the oven is preheated, remove the biscuits from the freezer. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until they’re puffed up and golden brown.

Serve warm. A glass of stout and a good book would not be remiss!

Readers: What's your favorite riff on biscuits? To enter, please include your email address.

🍺😼🍻

My most recent release is Murder in a Cape Cottage, the fourth Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, which came out in September.

"Scarfed Down," my Country Store novella in the collection Christmas Scarf Murder released the same day.

My next release is Four Leaf Cleaver, out in late January.

Check out all my writing!

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.