Cooking Lesson #779: Old Southern Cathead Biscuits

…from the Perspectives Kitchen

How you doin’? My Old Fashioned Cathead Biscuits are a wonderful way to spoil your family. Cathead biscuits have been around for years. It is an old-fashioned recipe that never disappoints!
 
Why are they called Cathead biscuits? Simply because they are as big as a cat’s head. When we call them out as old Southern Cathead Biscuits, some of the oldest family recipes go back to pre-Civil War times. They are simple, inexpensive and only have 6 ingredients—most can be found in your pantry. Try them tonight… or tomorrow with a Southern-Style Fried Chicken Thigh Biscuit Sandwich.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Bake time:  20 minutes
Yield:  8 large biscuits
 
Ingredients 
2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 to 2 tablespoons white shortening (Crisco) at room temperature or lard or rendered bacon fat; about the size of a walnut
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons melted salted butter (for brushing top after baking)
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 400⁰ F.
2. Work the shortening into the flour and baking powder until it’s like coarse crumbs. (Use your fingertips to do this unless you’ve got ‘hot’ hands. In that case use a fork).
3. Add the buttermilk and stir until it makes a ball in the bowl.
4. You can either pinch off the dough or roll it and cut it with a biscuit cutter. I use a tin can because I like to make these biscuits good size like they do in the south.
5. Grease or spray a sheet pan. Place the biscuits on the prepared sheet pan.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until brown on top.
7. Brush melted butter on the tops after baking.

​ChefSecret: For taller, lighter and flakier biscuits, cut straight down with the cutter.  Do not twist the cutter as it prevents the biscuits from getting a full rise. For the highest rise biscuit, ensure the biscuits are touching so they rise up and not out. For crusty edges, arrange them 1 inch apart, for softer edges, place them close together.

Quip of the Day:  Two biscuits are in an oven… One biscuit looks at the other and says, “man, it’s hot in here.” The other biscuit replied, “AHHH, a talking biscuit!!!”
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected].  All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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How you doin’? My Old Fashioned Cathead Biscuits are a wonderful way to spoil your family. Cathead biscuits have been around for years. It is an old-fashioned recipe that never disappoints!
 
Why are they called Cathead biscuits? Simply because they are as big as a cat’s head. When we call them out as old Southern Cathead Biscuits, some of the oldest family recipes go back to pre-Civil War times. They are simple, inexpensive and only have 6 ingredients—most can be found in your pantry. Try them tonight… or tomorrow with a Southern-Style Fried Chicken Thigh Biscuit Sandwich.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Bake time:  20 minutes
Yield:  8 large biscuits
 
Ingredients
 
2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 to 2 tablespoons white shortening (Crisco) at room temperature or lard or rendered bacon fat; about the size of a walnut
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons melted salted butter (for brushing top after baking)
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 400⁰ F.
2. Work the shortening into the flour and baking powder until it’s like coarse crumbs. (Use your fingertips to do this unless you’ve got ‘hot’ hands. In that case use a fork).
3. Add the buttermilk and stir until it makes a ball in the bowl.
4. You can either pinch off the dough or roll it and cut it with a biscuit cutter. I use a tin can because I like to make these biscuits good size like they do in the south.
5. Grease or spray a sheet pan. Place the biscuits on the prepared sheet pan.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until brown on top.
7. Brush melted butter on the tops after baking.

ChefSecret: For taller, lighter and flakier biscuits, cut straight down with the cutter.  Do not twist the cutter as it prevents the biscuits from getting a full rise. For the highest rise biscuit, ensure the biscuits are touching so they rise up and not out. For crusty edges, arrange them 1 inch apart, for softer edges, place them close together.
Quip of the Day:  Two biscuits are in an oven… One biscuit looks at the other and says, “man, it’s hot in here.” The other biscuit replied, “AHHH, a talking biscuit!!!”
-------------------------------------------
Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected].  All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Baking #SouthernBiscuits #CatheadBiscuits #Crisco #Lard #2024Recipes #T2T #URM #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup  

                                                                        ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2024

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