There’s a time and place for impressive snacks—sit-down dinners, cocktail parties, or anytime you put on “good clothes”—but what about no-makeup-braless days? I’m-staying-inside Saturday nights? These happen to be the perfect occasions for air fryer biscuit balls stuffed with cheese. They’re simple to make, quick to cook, and ideal for enjoying on the couch. (Sharing is up to you.)
"Biscuits and cheese" is a comfort food combination that lifts the spirit and sticks to your ribs. With a swipe of butter and a sprinkle of garlic salt, these cheese-stuffed biscuit balls are flavorful to the last bite. I use canned biscuit dough for this recipe. This type of dough works best because it’s much more malleable than homemade flaky biscuit dough which isn’t meant to be overworked. It also makes the recipe faster and much easier. Ahem, and maybe I had two cans of biscuit dough leftover from Thanksgiving. I imagine you might too.
I used low-moisture mozzarella for the cheese pocket in the center. It’s the most underrated of the mozz family, and invaluable in most recipes where stretch is desired. The low-moisture variety has a more concentrated dairy flavor and a good balance of salt. It packs all the stretchiness of fresh mozzarella, but none of the excess water. While that might seem a small difference, that extra water makes it less flavorful, and more importantly in this case, it can prevent the dough from fully cooking inside a biscuit pocket. If you don’t care much about stretch, you could use any other low-moisture melting cheese, like cheddar, Swiss, or gouda.
If you're going to make these, you'll need an air fryer:
How to make cheese-stuffed biscuit balls
Slice the mozzarella block into a couple slabs a little less than an inch wide. Cut the slabs into six equal squares, they’ll be nearly one-inch cubes. Crack open one can of biscuit dough. Each biscuit will make one ball.
Place a chunk of cheese in the center of one biscuit. Fold the edges up and over the cheese and pinch it shut. Pinching it will take some insistent squeezing. Flip the ball so it’s seam side down. Repeat this for the rest of the biscuit balls. Then go back to the first ones and check their seams. Pinch any openings shut.
Air fry the biscuit balls, seams down, for eight to 10 minutes at 375°F on the “air fry” setting. The biscuits should be well browned on the surface. Allow them to cool on a wire rack for at least five minutes. Brush them with melted butter and sprinkle them with salt and seasonings before serving.
I used granulated garlic and salt, but I bet Italian seasoning, herbes de provence, or everything bagel seasoning would be outstanding. To that point, you can also sprinkle seasonings, seeds, or a dash of hot sauce in the center with the cheese block before you fold it up. Just be careful with sauce. Adding too much moisture will make the biscuit harder to seal and possibly keep the dough from cooking through.
Cheese-Stuffed Biscuit Balls
Ingredients:
1 can biscuit dough
8 cubes low-moisture mozzarella (about ¾ to 1-inch cubes)
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Garlic salt for sprinkling (or other dry seasonings)
1. Preheat the air fryer to 375°F on the “air fry” setting.
2. Open the can of biscuit dough. Place one chunk of cheese in the center of each biscuit. Wrap the edges of the dough up and over the cheese. Pinch the edges to seal the biscuit into a ball. Flip the ball over, seam-side down. Repeat this for all of the biscuits. Check that the seams stayed shut on all of the biscuits and pinch any openings closed.
3. Air fry the balls for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on your air fryer. The biscuits should all have developed an even, deep brown coloring. Cool them on a wire rack for a few minutes. Using a pastry brush, swipe melted butter across the entire surface of each biscuit ball. Sprinkle them all with garlic salt, or any other seasonings you like.