easy zucchini cheddar drop biscuits

Craving comfort food with a healthier twist? Cheesy, buttery carbs are my go-to comfort food, so I’m always trying to figure out how to trick myself into combining classic comfort with veggies.

There are a few tricks that really work without sacrificing flavor. You can add steamed or roasted cauliflower or parsnips into mashed potatoes! You can add broccoli to your mac and cheese – and even substitute the pasta for high protein quinoa!

But what if you’re craving dense, buttery drop biscuits? Sure, you can substitute whole wheat flour for part of the all-purpose flour. You can use a bit less butter and cheese than the recipe calls for. But if you’re like me and you want that heavy, old-school comfort food flavor, why not add zucchini? Recipe courtesy of Taste of Home.

• 3/4 cup shredded zucchini
• 1-1/4 teaspoons salt, divided 1 teaspoon or less salt (cheese is salty!)
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  (I just used sharp cheddar, as that’s what I had in the house. Any combination of cheeses would be fine.)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, patted dry (optional; not necessary; they were great without this)
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil (or whatever you have. I used thyme and dill.)
• 1 cup 2% milk (mine didn’t need this much milk for the dough to come together.)

Preheat oven to 425°. Place zucchini in a colander over a plate; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and toss. Let stand 10 minutes. Rinse and drain well. Squeeze zucchini to remove excess liquid. Pat dry.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and remaining salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in zucchini, cheeses, tomatoes and basil. Add milk; stir just until moistened.

Drop by scant 1/3 cupfuls into a greased 13×9-in. baking pan. (I used a greased baking sheet.) Bake until golden brown, 22-26 minutes. Serve warm.

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Recipe by Taste of Home

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If it wasn’t for the flecks of green, you’d never guess there are veggies in here. I was worried the zucchini would cause soggy, dense, or chewy biscuits, but these still mostly maintain that classic crumbly drop biscuit consistency. Maybe just a bit wetter inside, but at least they weren’t dry! I had one hot out of the oven with some homemade hot sauce and it was just as it sounds. The cheddar crisped up on the bottom like a cheese cracker or a glamorgan “sausage”.

If you like your carbs cheesy and buttery, give this a try! A great wintertime recipe. I imagine these would be incredible dunked into a healthy vegetable soup. Like, what if you made a broccoli-cheese soup without the cheese, and added these biscuits on top? Next time I might add some jalapenos…. mmmm. Definitely a treat. Recommended.

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