What's past is prologue

My oldest daughter was home from university for a mini two-day break earlier this week. She was busy studying and working on essays, but we carved out a little time to bake together.

I've been baking with the girls since they were young enough that they both needed chairs to work at the counter. Our favourite recipe was chocolate chip cookies - in those days, "equal division of labour" meant one girl poured the chocolate chips into the batter and the other stirred them in. My daughter remembers being proud the day I decided she was old enough to crack the egg by herself.

Now, of course, she's taller than I am and stands by my side when we bake together. I've been wanting to try these biscuits for a while, and it was a perfect time to try the recipe. I thought they were wonderful as an accompaniment to soup. And my daughter loved them so much that when she went back to school, she asked me for the recipe, and baked them for a potluck on Thursday night.

Bacon Cheddar Green Onion Biscuits

(adapted from Brown Sugar Kitchen by Tanya Holland)

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, cut into cubes and chilled

1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or less)

1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese

2 slices cooked bacon, chopped

3 green onions, white parts only, chopped

heavy cream for brushing

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add chilled butter and cut in until the butter is pea sized or smaller. Drizzle in enough buttermilk to moisten the dough (I used about 1 1/4 cups) and mix until it just forms a ball. Divide the dough into thirds.

In a small bowl, combine the cheese, bacon, and green onions.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of dough to an 11” x 8 1/2” rectangle and sprinkle with half the cheese mixture. Roll out another piece of dough and layer on top of the first piece. Sprinkle with remaining cheese mixture. Roll out the remaining piece of dough and layer it on top. Gently roll out the dough layers to make a 12” x 10” rectangle. (Note: all sizes are approximate. My shapes were imperfect, to say the least.)

Using a 2” cookie cutter, cut out biscuits and set them on the prepared baking sheets. Brush the tops with cream. Bake until they just start to turn golden but before the bottoms start to brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve warm.

To make ahead, store in an airtight container at room temperature for a day and reheat in toaster oven.