Cornmeal and Cheddar Biscuits

A while ago I got inspired to make some cornbread, which incidentally turned into a cake as I misread how much sugar to put in. . .  The price of cornmeal (polenta flour) can be quite pricey if bought from a health shop so when I saw a huge 1.5 kg bag in Asda for cheap I got over excited and bought it.

No problem you may say but now I have a huge bag of polenta in my cupboard. So what to do? 

It seems that cornmeal is quite popular in the southern states of America and I came across this recipe from Cooks.com. I have amended the recipe to include more cornmeal/ polenta, some cheese and black pepper. 

As you can see they don't look at all like biscuits and are like a scone or cheese straw in texture.

The amended recipe is as follows . . . I have stuck with the American measuring system of cups.

1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

2/3 c. yellow cornmeal

2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 c. grated cheese ( I used mature Cheddar)

Plenty of freshly ground black pepper

3/4 c. milk
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten

Pre-heat the oven at 200 C.

Combine all the dry ingredients (including the cheese) in a large mixing bowl. Mix all the wet ingredients in a jug. Pour the wet mix into the dry and stir until just mixed. You may need to add more milk if the mixture is too dry. Mine became a stodgy batter and worked fine.

Using a table spoon heap the mixture onto a greased baking sheet and flatten the top with the back of the spoon. 

The mixture made 16 biscuits. Bake for 12 minutes at 200 C. Put on a wire rack to cool.

I really like the idea of savoury biscuits. Some variations on this could be to substitute the pepper for chilli (chilli sauce of flakes), dried herbs or garlic. 

Enjoy! xx