Step 1

Preheat the oven to 450°F. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and sugar. Grate the butter into the dry ingredients and stir lightly to combine. Use a fork or pastry blender to cut in the cold butter pieces until the mixture resembles a course meal with little pea size or smaller lumps throughout.

Step 2

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the egg and the milk and then pour into the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. Stir just long enough to combine. The mixture should be somewhat dry and just a tiny bit sticky at this point. Add the ham, cheese, and onions and stir or press lightly with your hands to combine.

Step 3

Sprinkle a tablespoon of flour onto a countertop, pastry mat, or tea towel (as pictured above). Dump the dough out onto this surface and sprinkle a half tablespoon or so of flour across the top of the dough. Lightly press the dough with your hands to flatten it until it is about 1" thick. Add just a sprinkling more flour as needed, to make sure the dough isn't too sticky.

Step 4

Use a biscuit cutter, round cookie cutter or drinking glass to cut biscuit shapes out of the dough. Alternatively, you can shape the biscuits with your hands. Place the cut biscuits on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Press the remaining bits of dough into a biscuit shape with your hands.

Step 5

Bake for 16-18 minutes, until the bottom of the biscuits are lightly browned. The tops of these biscuits will not brown very much at all, although the pieces of cheese in the dough should toast nicely. Remove from the oven and transfer to a basket or cooling rack.