These smoked salmon biscuits are based on my mom’s authentic buttermilk biscuit recipe, but all dressed up for brunch with Gruyère and fresh chives.
My mom’s buttermilk biscuits, like the lady herself, are an absolute legend. She learned to make them from the recipe on the back of the flour bag when we moved from Chicago to Tennessee. She doubled it to feed our family of six, but accidentally tripled the butter. It was a huge hit, and that happy accident became the recipe we’ve made ever since.
This particular version was inspired by a bacon, cheese, and chive biscuit I ate at Tandem Bakery in Portland a few years ago. I walked away desperate for a pescatarian version of that magic. The viral smoked salmon candy turned out to be the perfect swap for that sweet-salty bacon flavor, so it went into my mom’s dough along with nutty Gruyère and fresh chives. The core recipe is still the one she made in her newly southern kitchen all those years ago.
No salmon candy? Diced hot smoked salmon or diced lox works too.
If smoked salmon is your brunch love language, try my smoked salmon quiche or smoked salmon omelet.
The Ingredients
Biscuit Dough: only takes 3 ingredients! You need self-rising flour. (No self-rising flour? The Notes have an all-purpose swap) cold, salted butter - It’s what makes the layers, so keep it cold until the moment it goes into the flour and cold buttermilk.
Mix-ins: you'll need smoked salmon candy. I used Sitka Seafood Market’s smoked salmon candy. No salmon candy? Diced hot smoked salmon or diced lox works too. Then Gruyère cheese and fresh chives.
Why This Recipe Works
Everything stays cold until it hits the oven. The butter, Gruyère, and buttermilk all go in cold, and the cut biscuits get a chill before baking. Cold butter melts slowly in a hot oven, and the steam it releases lifts the dough into tender, flaky biscuits instead of dense little pucks.
Building easy layers. Cut, stack, and press, done twice, gives you layers with no rolling pin and no fuss. The salmon, cheese, and chives mean you won’t get croissant-style striations, but you will get a biscuit that’s buttery and flaky inside.
Cut straight down, no twisting. Twisting the cutter seals the edges and keeps the biscuit from rising, so press straight down and lift straight up.
A Few Things That’ll Make This Easier
Dice the butter, don’t shred it. You’ll see advice to shred butter and freeze it. I tested that, and the shreds melted into the dough really quickly. A small dice, chilled for 15 minutes, worked best. Pinch it into the flour with your fingertips until the largest pieces are about pea-sized, and work fast, since warm hands soften butter quickly. A pastry cutter works too.
Stop mixing when the dough looks shaggy. A few dry patches are fine. The dough comes together when you press and fold it on the counter, so there’s no need to keep stirring.
Flour your cutter before every cut. The flour keeps the cut edges from smearing shut, which is what lets the sides rise. I just used a ring mold, and it worked great as long as I floured it.
How to Make Smoked Salmon Biscuits
1. Prep and oven
Dice the butter small and shred the Gruyère. Freeze both for 15 minutes while you set up. Heat the oven to 425°F. Line a tray with parchment for the cut biscuits, and leave your dark baking sheet at room temperature for now.
2. Work the butter into the flour
Whisk the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and pinch it into the flour with your fingertips until the largest pieces are about pea-sized.
3. Add the mix-ins
Toss in the Gruyère, salmon, and chives until evenly distributed.
4. Add the buttermilk
Pour in the cold buttermilk and stir with a rubber spatula just until a shaggy dough forms.
5. Fold the dough
Turn the dough onto a floured surface and press it into a rough square or rectangle.
Cut it into quarters, stack the quarters, and press back down. Do that once more.
6. Cut the biscuits
Press the dough to about 1¼ inches thick. Cut with a floured 2-inch cutter, straight down and straight up, and set the biscuits on the parchment-lined tray. Gently press the scraps together and cut once more.
7. Chill again
Freeze for 15 minutes while the oven finishes heating. If they’ve been chilling in the fridge for hours, skip this step.
8. Bake
Butter the dark baking sheet generously, only where the biscuits will sit. Move the chilled biscuits onto it with about ½ inch between them. Bake 16 to 20 minutes, until deep golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 200 to 205°F. Rotate the pan partway through if your oven browns unevenly.
9. Brush and serve
Brush the warm biscuits with the chive butter and finish with cracked black pepper.
Serve warm.
What to Serve With These Biscuits
Split them warm and add a smear of tomato caper butter for a savory, briny bite that goes with the salmon. Or go the comfort route and ladle on southern country gravy. For a full brunch spread, set the biscuits out as part of a bagel and lox charcuterie board with the capers, red onion, and cream cheese.
What’s the difference between salmon candy, hot smoked salmon, and lox?
Salmon candy is sweet-cured and hard smoked, so it’s chewy and a little like brown sugar bacon. Hot smoked salmon is cooked through and flaky. Lox, or cold-smoked salmon, is cured but not cooked, so it’s silky and salty. All three work here. Dice hot smoked salmon and lox to the same small size as the candy so every biscuit gets good distribution.
Do I need a biscuit cutter?
I used a ring mold, and it worked great as long as I floured it before every cut. My mom used an upside-down glass growing up. Press straight down and lift straight up, with no twisting, so the edges stay open and the biscuits can rise.
Can I make these biscuits ahead?
Yes, up to 24 hours. Mix and cut them, cover the tray well, and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake. Straight from the fridge to a hot oven is fine, since the point is a well-chilled dough.
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Smoked Salmon Biscuits with Gruyère and Chives
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 biscuits 1x
- Diet: Pescatarian
Description
Cut-and-folded biscuits with diced smoked salmon candy, nutty Gruyère, and fresh chives, brushed with chive butter while still warm. Mix and cut them up to 24 hours ahead.
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups self-rising flour, (270g)
- ½ teaspoon fine kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons salted butter, cold, cut into small cubes (113g)
- 4 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded on the large holes of a box grater, chilled (115g)
- 3 ounces smoked salmon candy, diced small (85g)
- 3 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped (9g)
- 1 cup buttermilk, cold (240g)
- 1 ½ tablespoons salted butter, melted, for brushing (21g)
- 1 teaspoon fresh chives, finely chopped, for the butter brush
- Black pepper, for topping
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425°F. Freeze the cubed butter and the shredded Gruyère for 15 minutes. Line a tray with parchment for the cut biscuits and leave a dark baking sheet at room temperature for now.
- Whisk the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and pinch it into the flour with your fingertips until the largest pieces are about pea-sized. Toss in the Gruyère, salmon candy, and chives until evenly distributed.
- Pour in the buttermilk and stir with a rubber spatula just until a shaggy dough forms. A few dry patches are fine. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press it into a rough square or rectangle. Cut it into quarters, stack the quarters, and press back down. Repeat once more.
- Press the dough to about 1 ¼ inches thick. Cut with a floured 2-inch round cutter, pressing straight down and lifting straight up without twisting, and flour the cutter between cuts.
- Place the biscuits on the parchment-lined tray. Gently press the scraps together and cut once more. Freeze the biscuits for 15 minutes while the oven finishes heating (Skip this if your biscuits have been chilling in the fridge for hours.)
- Butter the dark baking sheet generously, only where the biscuits will sit. Move the chilled biscuits onto it with about ½ inch between them. Bake 16 to 20 minutes, until deep golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 200 to 205°F.
- Rotate the pan partway through if your oven browns unevenly. While they bake, melt the brushing butter, take it off the heat, and stir in the chives. Brush the warm biscuits with the chive butter, finish with cracked black pepper, and serve warm.
Notes
Pan and spacing: Bake the biscuits about ½ inch apart on a dark, heavy baking sheet. The space lets the sides brown, and the dark pan helps the bottoms turn golden and crisp, which is my preference. Biscuits baked touching rise slightly higher, but their sides stay lighter and softer. If that's what you prefer, a 10 or 12-inch cast iron skillet is a great option: the biscuits fit snugly for the taller rise, and the cast iron gives the bottoms a deep golden crust. Spaced biscuits will likely bake a minute or two faster than biscuits baked touching in a skillet.
Make ahead: Mix and cut the biscuits up to 24 hours ahead, the night before to bake in the morning or the morning of to bake that night. Keep them on the parchment-lined tray, covered well, in the fridge. Move them to the well-buttered, preferably dark baking sheet right before they go in the oven. Skip the 15-minute freeze if they’ve chilled for hours. Very cold biscuits may need an extra minute in the oven.
Butter: This recipe is written for salted butter, both in the dough and for brushing. If you’re using unsalted, add about ¼ teaspoon more salt to the dough and a pinch to the brushing butter.
Smoked salmon: This recipe is calibrated for sweetened, hard smoked salmon candy, which plays the role of a brown sugar bacon. Diced hot smoked salmon or diced lox also work, but both are saltier without the sweetness to balance them, so skip the added ½ teaspoon of salt. Plain cooked salmon is only as salty as you season it, so keep the added salt.
No self-rising flour? For every 1 cup of self-rising flour, use 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder plus ¼ teaspoon salt. For this recipe, that’s 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon plus a scant ½ teaspoon baking powder, and a generous ½ teaspoon salt. Keep the separate ½ teaspoon of salt in the recipe as written.
Herb swap: For a more pronounced herb flavor, use 1 tablespoon fresh dill and 2 tablespoons chives in the dough, keeping the total at 3 tablespoons. I preferred the chives on their own, but dill is always a good choice.
For the meat-eaters: Swap in 3 ounces cooked, crumbled bacon for the salmon. It won’t bring the same sweet balance, so skip the added ½ teaspoon of salt in the dough. If it needs a little more after tasting the finished biscuit, sprinkle flaky salt over the top after brushing with butter. Start with about 6 ounces of raw bacon and that should cook down to around 3 ounces crumbled.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: Brunch
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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