A Spicy Perspective

Cathead Biscuits

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Fluffy Southern Cathead Biscuits Recipe – The biggest, softest, most amazing biscuit recipe with buttery golden tops! Flaky on the outside, pillowy inside!

Best Fluffy Southern Cat Head Biscuits Recipe

Why We Love Cathead Biscuits

There are biscuits, and then there are biscuits.

The jaw-dropping, mind-blowing, knee-buckling, eyes-roll-back-in-your-head kind of biscuits made from scratch.

Although there’s nothing wrong with popping open the canned variety on occasion, nothing compares to a buttery scratch-made biscuit straight out of the oven.

After much trial and error, I learned that light airy biscuits come from gentle, yet speedy, hands.

Our Fluffy Southern Cat Head Biscuits have the most delicate texture on the inside, yet are crispy and flaky on the outside. The light airy flavor of butter and wheat creates a perfect platform for all sorts of toppings. Basically, they are what all biscuits aspire to be.

Fluffy Cathead Biscuits in a cast iron skillet overhead shot

Why Are They Called Cathead Biscuits?

In the south, cathead biscuits are all about size… They are roughly the same dimensions as a cat’s head. Meow.

Weird name and association, but ridiculously enormous biscuit perfection! I mean, who wants a scrawny biscuit? Not me. As far as biscuit recipes go, the bigger the better!

Cat Head Biscuit close up on a white plate.

Ingredients You Need

  • All-Purpose Flour
  • Granulated Sugar – for just a hint of sweetness
  • Baking Powder & Baking Soda – so the biscuits get super fluffy
  • Sea Salt – or regular salt
  • Butter – make sure to use cold butter
  • Butter-Flavored Shortening – also known as Crisco, alternatively you can use lard
  • Buttermilk – to create tangy, moist buttermilk biscuits
Cathead Biscuit Dough in a food processor.

How to Make Southern Cathead Biscuits

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and grease a 12 inch deep dish cast iron skillet and set aside.

Next, prep the dry ingredients. Sift the flour, then scoop and level to measure the accurate amount. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a food processor. Pulse to mix.

Add in the cold shortening and 1/4 cup cold butter. Pulse again until the fat is mixed into the flour creating a pebble texture. Continue pulsing as you add in the buttermilk.

Fluffy Southern Cat Head Biscuits Dough on board

Once the dough is thoroughly mixed, stop pulsing. The dough should look wet, but even.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface. Press and pat it flat with your hands until it is smooth, in an even 2-inch thick disk. Use a drinking glass, or a 3-inch biscuit cutter, to cut out 8 biscuits. If needed, cut out 7 and then gather the dough and cut out the last biscuit.

Biscuit dough pressed into a round disk and one biscuit cut out.

Place the biscuits in the skillet. Then brush the tops with melted butter and place in the oven immediately.

Biscuits in skillet before being baked.

Bake in the center of the oven until the tops are golden brown and the biscuits have risen at lease 1 inch above the top of the skillet. Around 30-35 minutes. Make sure to move the oven racks, if needed, to allow room for growth.

Use a spatula or knife to separate the biscuits before lifting them out of the pan. Enjoy!

Fluffy Cat Head Biscuit lifted out of skillet

Tips & Tricks

  • Fluffy Southern cat head biscuits have the best texture and taste when the dough is cold as it goes into the oven, it hasn’t been over mixed, and the flour is well sifted prior to adding it to the dough. So use cold ingredients and move fast to get these into the oven!
  • If the dough isn’t cold anymore after mixing and cutting them out, you can place the biscuits covered with plastic in the refrigerator until the dough is cold again, then pop into the hot oven!
  • Using cold ingredients like buttermilk, butter, and refrigerated shortening creates a cold dough. When the cold dough is placed in the oven, it quickly creates an outer crust while the dough is still cool on the inside. The outer crust causes the biscuits to grow up, instead of flattening out, once the insides start to bake. Cold dough, that hasn’t been over-worked, is the secret to making the best biscuits ever!
  • Baking this Fluffy Cat Head Biscuit recipe in a deep skillet serves two purposes. First, the sides of the skillet offer support so that the biscuits rise to ethereal heights. Second, the biscuits edges on the outside of the pan turn crispy, while the center edges are soft and feathery. That way you get a little crunch and a whole lot of tender goodness.
Biscuits made in skillet with a spatula lifting one biscuit out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make a double batch?

You can make a double batch in a 9×13 or 10×15 inch baking dish and refrigerate them overnight if needed. Just make sure to cover them well with plastic while in the refrigerator!

How should I serve these Southern biscuits?

There are so so many ways to serve these biscuits that you will be making them ALL the time! You can eat them on their own with butter and honey, or your favorite jam. For a heartier breakfast, try pairing them with sausage gravy for amazing biscuits and gravy.
Biscuits can also be served as a side dish to your favorite comfort foods like Sausage and Kale Soup, Chicken Tortellini Soup, or Beef Stew!
Being that these are Southern cathead biscuits, these would also go amazingly as a side to Fried Chicken, Chicken Fried Steak, or Shrimp and Grits! For cheese biscuits, try adding some shredded cheddar cheese or use my Cheddar Bay Drop Biscuits recipe!

How do you make biscuits rise higher?

Biscuits will rise higher if you bake them in a fairly hot oven, at least 425 degrees. That way the butter melts and evaporates quickly, creating tall, flaky biscuits. It also helps to bake biscuits in a deep dish cast iron skillet because the sides will support the biscuits and encourage them to grow up instead of sideways!

How should I store leftover cathead biscuits?

Store any leftover biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days! Reheat them in the microwave or pop them in a warm oven.

Cathead Biscuit cut in half on a white plate with a butter knife next to it.

Biscuits for Every Occasion

The holidays are quickly approaching. Why not give these big beauties a try? Southern Cathead biscuits are perfect to serve a crowd for any special occasion.

You might decide they need to be on your Thanksgiving table or at Christmas morning brunch this year!

Cat head biscuit with jam spread on it.

See The Recipe Card Below For How To Make Fluffy Southern Cat Head Biscuits. 

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5 from 29 votes
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Cathead Biscuits Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Fluffy Southern Cat Head Biscuits Recipe – The biggest, softest, most amazing biscuit recipe with buttery golden tops! Flaky on the outside, pillowy inside!
Servings: 8 biscuits

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Grease a 12-inch deep dish cast iron skillet and set aside.
  • Sift the flour, then scoop and level. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a food processor. Pulse to mix.
  • Next, add the cold shortening and 1/4 cup cold butter. Pulse again until the fat is mixed into the flour creating a pebble texture. Continue pulsing as you add in the cold buttermilk.
  • Once the dough is thoroughly mixed, stop pulsing. The dough should look wet, but even.
  • Dump the dough out onto a floured work surface. Press it flat with your hands until it is smooth, in an even 2-inch thick disk. Use a drinking glass, or 3-inch cutter, to cut out 8 biscuits. If needed, cut out 7, then gather the dough and cut out the last biscuit.
  • Place the biscuits in the skillet. Then brush the tops with the melted butter, and place in the oven immediately.
  • Bake in the center of the oven until the tops are golden and the biscuits have risen at least 1 inch above the top of the skillet. Around 30-35 minutes. Make sure to move the oven racks, if need, to allow room for growth.
  • Use a spatula or knife to separate the biscuits before lifting out of the pan.

Video

Notes

Biscuits have the best texture when: A. the dough is cold as it goes in the oven, B. hasn’t been over mixed, and C. the flour is well-sifted. Use cold ingredients and work fast! Do not over-mix the dough in the food processor or when cutting. If possible, cut all the biscuits out without re-gathering the dough. To ensure the dough is cold, you can prep the biscuits then place in the refrigerator to chill before baking.

Nutrition

Serving: 1biscuit, Calories: 497kcal, Carbohydrates: 64g, Protein: 9g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 37mg, Sodium: 1022mg, Potassium: 463mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 454IU, Calcium: 214mg, Iron: 4mg
Course: Biscuits
Cuisine: American
Author: Sommer Collier

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45 comments on “Cathead Biscuits”

  1. How can I mix the cathead biscuit dough if I don’t have a big food processor?

  2. These are so good! I love the spicy flavor.

  3. The only issue I had was that 450 degrees was too hot and 30 to 35 minutes is too long. Next time I will try 425 degrees and 20 to 25 minutes

  4. This is a great recipe! I only used 1/2 the salt. I also used the whole 1/2 stick of butter but mistake but they still came out great. I had like 17 biscuits because i made them a little thinner. Winner recipe!

  5. Made these biscuits as a test run before Thanksgiving and they were a hit!!!!  I planned on testing a few recipes but was done searching after this one. The biscuits have such a nice crust on them and oh so delicious. Thank you for the recipe. 

  6. I haven’t made these yet, but I can see already that this would be too much for my husband and myself. I could certainly give half away, but is it also possible to freeze them?

  7. Do you heat your skillet in the oven to get the grease hot before putting the biscuits in to cook?

  8. So my question is… is it 4 1/2 cups flour before sifting? Or 4 1/2 cups sifted flour?

  9. I have made these a few times now. I put my buttermilk in the freezer for about half an hour then return to the fridge. I keep my lard in the back of the fridge. I know! Lard, ugh! But these biscuits were likely made originally with lard, and once I tried it I was convinced. I used the wrong size cast iron skillet first, & it was for sure a jumble LOL! I think the CIS is very important, but it is heavy, & sometimes you have to do something else. 😊 Sides touching is important. If you want a sweeter biscuit, eliminate 1/2 tsp of salt & they almost taste like scones. SO GOOD no matter how you fix them! 

  10. These biscuits are SO awesome! My husband even prefers them over canned biscuits & Jiffy mix biscuits— and that’s a super big deal LOL

  11. Best recipe yet, I just use a pastry cutter to add in butter and shortening and watch the time, less than 15 minutes when making 1/2 a batch and less than 30 doing a full. My go to for biscuits now

  12. Pingback: Excerpt from Real Life: Making Bread At Home – Kathleen W Curry

  13. Followed the recipe to the letter. First time I made them, I didn’t use the dough blade in the food processor. Dough was too soggy to shape. Second time, I used the dough blade and the consistency of the dough was perfect. Since I didn’t have a large skillet, I placed them on a silicone baking mat in a 450 degree oven for 30 minutes. The biscuits were beautiful going in, but like hockey pucks coming out. Thirty minutes was about 15 minutes too long. Next time I make them, I’ll cook for only 15 minutes which is the time suggested in other recipes.

    I’m not giving up because I can see (and taste) that, if I do it right, these will be amazing biscuits.

    • Hi Karen,

      The reason they bake so long in the skillet is because they are all touching sides. It’s almost like baking one giant biscuit that can break apart into smaller biscuits. When they are separated the heat surrounds each biscuit and bakes them much faster. However, because this is a delicate biscuit dough (for fluffy biscuits) they sort of NEED to be touching to support each other as they rise. If you added flour to create firmer consistency, that might be why they were tough. Hope this helps!

  14. This is a great if not the best biscuit recipe. I didn’t have shortning so just used shift buttet ;)

  15. WOW! Just made them. Way to many for the two of us. Lol, hubby said taste like a pancake, fluffy! Just called a friend to come and get some. A keeper for company. Will cut in half next time.
    P.S. I had homemade strawberry, blackberry and peach jam.

  16. These biscuits were crazy good and your sausage gravy recipe was amazing and quite easy! I must add that I very nearly burned up my 11 cup Cuisinart food processor, when cutting in the butter and shortening and never really achieved the “pebble-like consistency” but I could tell my processor was getting hot, so I began adding the buttermilk and just as I was finishing, my processor overheated and shut down! I will make these again but might do that part in two waves. I will also cut the biscuits with a 2 or 2 and a half inch diameter because these are so HUGE! I know that’s why they call them cat head, but I could easily get a dozen great biscuits out of this recipe. Thank you – it was the best biscuits and gravy breakfast I have had in a long time! (and had the leftovers the next morning)

  17. DO YOU USE SALTED OR UNSALTED BUTTER?

  18. I followed the recipe exactly- including the sifting of the flour. I know it says dough will be wet, but mine was SO wet it was completely unworkable. Just a pile of wet grossness. I had to add so much flour just to get them to a workable texture to even make “biscuits” 

    :( :(  I have no idea where it went wrong but boy that was a f*^!ing mess!! Lol!

    • Update!! Even after having to add a tonnn of flour and my biscuits just being a gross mess- I threw them in the oven anyway and prayed they’d not be like hockey pucks…

      They came out amazing! 🥳🤷‍♀️ By some miracle!

  19. I’ve been looking for the perfect biscuit recipe. And I think I found it! These biscuits sound like a dream! Yum! I love the fact that they’re as big as a cat’s head !!!

  20. will enjoy baking!

  21. Pingback: Cathead Biscuits - Bake it until you cake it!

  22. Great recipe made it today 12/30/2017…used a mixer as I didn’t pull out the food ptocessor and used all butter and no butter shortening…I received great reviews!!!!

  23. Hi Sommer, My first time making these– Thank you for the great recipe! These are easy and soooo delicious!

  24. I want to make these for a large family dinner. Can I mix and cut them out early in the day or the day before and keep in fridge. any ideas  for making a large batch at once? They sound delicious!!! 

    • Hi Margene!

      Yes, you can make a double batch in a 9X13 or 10X15 inch baking dish and refrigerate them over night if needed. Just make sure to cover them well with plastic while in the refrigerator. :)

  25. Makes me doubly sorry for the folks in France who are facing practically a butter famine. If it can be found at all you might have to pay $10 for a pound of butter. No croissants, no cat-head biscuits, …

  26. That’s a scone not a biscuit.

    • Hi Andrea!

      Technically, southern biscuits are ancestors of scones brought over by Scotch immigrants. Therefore all American biscuit varieties are a modern form of scones. Adding a little sugar to a biscuit recipe does not automatically make it a scone, just like taking the sugar out of a scone recipe doesn’t make it a southern biscuit.

      Actually, in this recipe the sugar helps create the outer crispy texture, as well as keeping the interior moist. Texturally, these biscuits are very un-scone-like in the traditional sense. ;)

  27. These biscuits are like crack cocaine to us biscuit-loving carb junkies! I strongly suggest making two batches instead of one–that way you can sneak a couple while they’re still hot from the oven and still have enough left to serve with your meal. (Hey, munching on hot biscuits is the cook’s prerogative, right?)

  28. I just made these biscuits.  My food processor isn’t large enough so I used a stand mixer with bread hook.  Worked perfectly.  Easiest biscuits I’ve ever made.  Of course the best also.  Thanks for a great recipe.  I’m making your fried steak fingers and country gravy to go with the biscuits tonight.  I’m not planning on calorie counting today.

    • LOL! Wow David, you are fast! Thanks for reporting back. I hope you like the steak fingers just as much!
      Calories-shmalories.

    • I wouldn’t think a stand mixer with bread hook would cut in cold butter and shortening. Did you change the order of addition?

  29. Do these biscuits have to be made in a cast iron skillet or can some other type of skillet be used?

  30. Great explanation on the art of making great biscuits. I shared to my readers on my face book page thanks for the added details that will help them this holiday season and perhaps during the cold morning ahead. I see a sausage patty and an egg in mine or may just some homemade apple butter.

  31. I just purchased my first cast iron skillet, but it is 10.5 inches. Can I make the recipe using this size? If not, can you tell me how to alter it so it will fit the pan I have. I would love to make these for Thanksgiving……