Cathead Biscuits

Southern Cathead Biscuits are oversized, hand formed fluffy biscuits that are named for their size.  

You’re not a real Southerner if you don’t love biscuits, BUT I’ll bet you probably are a real Southerner if you’ve had Cathead Biscuits.

When I think of biscuits, I think of my mother making them for breakfast after making bacon, so she could use the bacon grease to make the gravy.

I have never had gravy like my mother’s, and she could make it with her eyes closed.

It’s like her dressing at Thanksgiving, she has no recipe but makes it perfectly every time.

She would also put sugar on the breakfast table because she loves hot biscuits slathered in buttered and sprinkled with sugar. Sugar Biscuits”.

Because our arteries expected nothing less.

They’re Southern arteries.

I’ve always been told that I’m impatient, and I really doubt that I have ever denied that. I am definitely one of those Amazonians – you know, when we want something Amazon has us so spoiled that we can’t even fathom actually going out to a brick-n-mortar establishment to physically purchase an item.

And, we get our purchase usually the next day without having to do much more than a couple of finger taps on our phone. Even groceries are delivered now.

I’ve been asked why I wouldn’t want to go to the mall or department store, or ANY store, to buy most things. 

They obviously haven’t experienced Amazon in its drug form – the high you get seeing that box by the door when you get home, or hearing the *thud* of UPS dropping a box off at the door.

This is a high you’ll never stop chasing.

I talk about this lack of patience to tell you that the apple does not fall far from the tree. My mother doesn’t have any, either.

Although perfectly capable of making cut-out biscuits, she usually preferred to make drop biscuits, and I absolutely loved them. The butter in the dough was always still cold enough by the time she put the biscuits in the oven that they leave individual butter pockets when you slice them open.

Just in case you didn’t know, the cold butter is the secret to soft, buttery, flaky biscuits.

I wanted to make these biscuits because I’ve never really mastered the traditional cut-out biscuits, and I grew up on drop biscuits.

What Are Cathead Biscuits?

Cathead Biscuits are a Southern classic. They’re big, oversized free-form or hand-formed biscuits that are a little easier to make, in my opinion, than traditional biscuits. This recipe is from Virginia Willis’ most recent cookbook, “Secrets of a Southern Table“. Apparently, the name “Cathead” refers to the size of the extra large biscuit (big as a cat’s head), which is fairly common in Southern cooking.

I absolutely LOVE cookbooks. 

Physical, real, tangible cookbooks.

Reading a recipe and the stories about the person behind the food is a totally different experience when you’re holding a book as opposed to reading it on your laptop or iPad.

It just doesn’t compare.

If you’re not familiar with Virginia, she’s a James Beard award-winning Southern chef and writer. I refer to her as the Martha Stewart of the South. I’ve met Virginia at a couple of conferences and she, of course, has sweet Southern charm and is such a great speaker.

How To Make Cathead Biscuits

The Cathead Biscuit recipe only calls for 5 ingredients –

• All purpose flour – preferably White Lilly
• Unsalted butter
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Buttermilk

You’ll combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, making a “shaggy” dough, then folding it over a few times. The beauty of Cathead Biscuits is the simplicity, so a biscuit cutter isn’t necessary unless you want to use one. You can cut them with a floured cutter, or separate the dough and form them by hand. I baked these on a sheet pan, but you could also use a cake pan. They aren’t very fussy.   You don’t necessarily have to use White Lilly, but it’s a beloved Southern staple because of its lower protein content, which results in lighter, fluffier biscuits.

A few things you can make with these biscuits (besides just eating them as-is):

• Jalapeno Citrus Glazed Ham
• Cheesy Broccoli Casserole
• Fried Tilapia Over Tomato, Jalapeno and White Cheddar Grits

Here’s your printable, but you have to get her book to see step-by-step photos of her making them, she does an excellent job.

The link for her book is below.

Continue to Content

Cathead Biscuits

Yield: 9 Biscuits

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 42 minutes

An iconic Southern staple - extra large, fluffy biscuits with a tender crumb.

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Ingredients

• 4 cups White Lilly all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out.
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed and chilled, plus more for brushing the biscuits.
• 2 cups buttermilk

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 500° and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
3. Pour in the buttermilk and mix until barely combined. It will be a shaggy mass.
4. Turn the shaggy mass out on a floured surface, and knead lightly using the heel of your hand to compress and push the dough away from you, then fold it back over itself. Turn and repeat four or five times. Don't overwork the dough, you want to just barely activate the gluten.
5. Roll the dough out 1 inch thick. Cut rounds of dough using a 3 1/2 inch round cutter dipped in flour, OR hand form biscuits with floured hands, separating the dough into 9 pieces.
6. Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheets with sides touching.
7. Bake until golden brown, 10-12 min. Immediately brush with melted butter and transfer to a rack to cool slightly.
8. Serve warm with more butter and jam or jelly.

Notes

*This recipe was adapted by Virginia Willis - Secrets of the Southern South

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 9 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 340Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 986mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 8g

The provided nutrition calculated may not always be accurate.

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