Bing of a certain age as social media overtook the world, I am frequently amused by recipes (or fashion, or beauty) that become viral like some 20 year old just discovered it, or unearthed it from total obscurity. And I currently feel that way about the viral butter swim biscuits. There are recipes for butter swim biscuits in some of my community cookbooks that are decades old. I used to make them when I was a teenager and when I was young and just getting started in the kitchen. I have, frankly, never put a recipe here because I thought they were rather simplistic and people might balk at the idea of dough swimming in butter. But I was wrong, because all sorts of versions are popping up on the socials. So here, perhaps belatedly, is my contribution to the trend. A buttermilk biscuit shot through with shredded zucchini and tangy cheddar cheese, bathed in a garlicky butter bath.
Your box grater will get a workout here. First, grate the zucchini on the large holes then wring out all the liquid you can. Then grate your cheddar. After a rinse, later on in the recipe, grate you butter into the flour. I dig in with my hands here, they are the best tool for combining the flour and butter, distributing the zucchini, chaddar and green onions and patting in the pan. A add a little garlic powder to the butter bath – try and sprinkle it right on top of the cubed butter so it melts down instead of sticking to the bottom of the baking dish.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups grated zucchini, from 1 large or 2 small
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
4 green onions, white and light green parts
¼ plus 1/3 cup salted butter, very cold, divided
1 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 cup while buttermilk
1 large egg
Directions
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Grate the zucchini and place in the center off a thin teal towel. Twist the towel around the zucchini to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Stop and open the towel and shuffle the zucchini strands, then squeeze some more. Grate the cheddar cheese and dice the green onions. Set everything aside.
- Cut ¼ cup of the butter into cubes and place in an 8 by 8 inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of garlic powder and ½ teaspoon salt over the butter (get as much of it on top of the butter cubes as possible). Place the dish in the oven while you finish the biscuits.
- Put the flour, baking powder and remaining ½ teaspoons of garlic powder and salt into a bowl and stir to combine. Grate the 1/3 cup of butter into the flour, then use you good clean hand to toss it with the flour and rub it into a crumbly mixture with large shreds of butter still visible. Measure the buttermilk in a 2 cup measure, then break in the egg and beat with a fork to combine. Add the flour mixture and stir with the fork to combine until there are no streaks of dry ingredients visible. Add the zucchini, cheese (hold back a small handful) and green onion and stir with the fork to combine, but I find it best to use your hands again to evenly distribute everything. Wearing oven mitts, take the dish from the oven and swirl the butter around to mix in the garlic and salt. Scoop the dough into the pan on top of the butter and press it out into an even layer all the way to the sides and corners of the dish. Damp fingers is the best tool. Some butter will come up the sides. Good! Use a bench scraper of a knife to cut the batter into 9 even squares, cutting all the way to the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle over the cheese you held back. Return to the oven and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until everything is golden and puffed and cooked through. Let rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. Cut through the scores made before baking to separate the biscuits.
- find these best the day they are made, but you can make them a few hours early, then reheat in a low oven.
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