We already have Butter Swim Biscuits and they’re amazing, so why make another? Well, because, when you add ham and cheese to them, it’s a whole different animal. These Ham and Cheese Butter Swim Biscuits are still fluffy, still buttery as can be, but they’re much heartier than the original, with a punch of protein and some comforting cheddar in the mix. They’re a full meal in a biscuit, more or less, and they’re delicious.

If you’re not yet acquainted, a Butter Swim Biscuit is a biscuit that’s, yes, basically swimming in butter. You pour melted butter into a baking pan, and then add your dough on top of that and the biscuits bake in that nice little butter bath, which comes up and over the edges and the top. It’s a thing of beauty.

These are much the same. You still melt the butter and put that in first and then put the dough on top, but in this case the dough includes diced ham and cheddar and some chopped chives. And here’s what happens:

You get BIG, fluffy, hearty biscuits. They have melted butter pooling on the tops, in the corners, and it’s helped to crisp up those edges too. And when you bite into that biscuit (or maybe use a fork, I wasn’t kidding when I said these were big), you get hearty chunks of ham and pockets of ooey-gooey, melty cheese. You thought basic Butter Swim Biscuits were a thing of beauty? You ain’t seen nothing yet.