Giant & Fluffy Southern Cathead Biscuits
These giant, old-fashioned Southern cathead biscuits are crispy on the outside, incredibly fluffy on the inside, and bake up to the size of a cat's head! Made with simple ingredients like cold buttermilk and plenty of butter, they require zero rolling or cutting; just shape them by hand and drop them into a hot cast-iron skillet!
Servings: 8 Large Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter cubed
- 1 cup cold buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease a cast-iron skillet.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
- Cut the cold butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Pour in the cold buttermilk and stir just until a shaggy dough forms. Do not overmix.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently pat it into a thick rectangle about 1 inch thick.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal portions and shape each into a rough ball.
- Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet with the sides touching for softer edges or spaced apart for crispier sides.
- Bake for 13–15 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
- Remove from the oven and immediately brush with melted butter.
- Serve warm with butter, honey, jam, sausage gravy, or your favorite toppings.
Notes
- The first rule of biscuit making is that your ingredients must be cold. Keep your butter and buttermilk in the fridge until the exact second you need them!
- While it’s tempting to use a machine to speed things up, a pastry cutter or your own fingertips give you the best texture. You want pieces of butter the size of peas left in your flour mixture.
- Baking these in a seasoned cast-iron skillet or a round cake pan is the secret to getting crispy bottoms and soft, pull-apart sides.
- When placing your dough portions into the pan, make sure the sides of the biscuits are nestled right up against each other. Forcing them to touch makes them bake upward instead of spreading outward, resulting in much taller, fluffier cathead biscuits!