What are cat head biscuits? These are believed to be an old Appalachia favorite. The origins of the name are lost to time, but it’s believed that they’re called that because they’re about the size of a cat’s head. Cat head biscuits are a lot less fuss to make than rolled and cut biscuits, come together pretty fast and bake golden brown and tender.
One night I made a pot of Creamy Asparagus Soup. (The soup is fast, delicious and one of my top favorites.) My family says I make the best soups (and I thank them). However, they also expect some kind of bread with their soup. As I was making the aforementioned soup, I realized I didn’t have bread on hand. I decided to try this recipe.
I’m a California girl. I’m not a Southern Belle, nor am I a Texas resident. Therefore, my disclaimer is that I am neither a big fan of biscuits nor do I think I’d win blue ribbons for my biscuit making skills. Give me some fresh baked Texas Roadhouse Rolls with cinnamon butter… I’m in! But my men loved biscuits and I wasn’t going to let them down. So, I read the recipe and thought to myself, “I can do this. This looks easy enough.” Know what? It sure was! The recipe comes from one of my most trusted sources “Cook’s Country Magazine” and here are some excerpts about how they developed the recipe:
Cat Head Biscuits
When we spied “cat head biscuits” on a highway billboard near Greensboro, N.C., we did an immediate double take (not to mention a U-turn) to see what exactly they were. Aside from an unfortunate name, the biscuits themselves were tender and moist with a golden brown, craggy exterior and well worth reproducing back in the test kitchen. Here’s what we discovered:
Test Kitchen Discoveries
Traditional cat heat biscuit recipes were made with lard, but most modern recipes use shortening instead. We found shortening alone to be too artificial tasting, so we substituted most of the shortening for butter.
To create a more tender biscuit, use an equal mix of cake flour and all-purpose. Most biscuit recipes call for cold fat, which is “cut” into the dry ingredients to promote a flaky texture. Because we were after a fluffy texture, softened butter and shortening worked in with warm hands worked much better.
There’s no need to knead this biscuit dough; just use a portion scoop to scoop out hefty lumps into a cake tin.
Using a food processor, pulse the butter and shortening into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in buttermilk until combined. (As you can see, I have a love affair with my Cuisinart. Use your hands, as Cook’s Country did. I’ll still love you.) I like to add parchment paper; I buy pre-cut round parchment paper at King Arthur Flour. Use a greased 1/2-cup measure or large spring-loaded ice cream scoop to transfer 6 heaping portions of dough into prepared pan, placing 5 around pan’s perimeter and 1 in center.
Bake until puffed and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. Serve.
TASTING NOTES: The recipe says it makes six biscuits. Um, nope. I got 11 biscuits, using an ice cream scoop. More is better, right?! While I cannot resist a yeast roll, I was pleased with how easy these are to make. They were, indeed, tender (even though I used a food processor).
My family loves to dunk rolls into soup, and these were a hit with them. I liked them, but I’ll still go for the Buttered Rosemary Rolls before any kind of biscuit. Just sayin’! If YOU love biscuits, give these a try. They’re fast and easy. I’d make this recipe, again, but would be very tempted to add some fresh chives and even some cheese.
Cat Head Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces and softened
- 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425°F.Grease 9-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
Mix dough:
- Rub butter and shortening into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse meal.
NOTE: I used my food processor, instead of my fingers, by pulsing the butter and shortening into the flour mixture. - Stir in buttermilk until combined.
Portion biscuits:
- Use a greased 1/2-cup measure or large spring-loaded ice cream scoop to transfer 6 heaping portions of dough into prepared pan, placing 5 around pan’s perimeter and 1 in center.
Bake biscuits:
- Bake until puffed and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. Serve. (Biscuits can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for 2 days.)
Notes
Nutrition
I'm so sorry to hear that your job has taken over your life! But at least I can look forward to some really tasty crockpot recipes in the winter! These biscuits look. Awesome.
I am a huge bread lover, biscuits, rolls, bread you name it, and I also love to dunk it in my soup:) Looking forward to trying these and your wonderful soup. They look great.
I know what you mean about not having time to post. I feel so guilty because I have not had the time to post or make comments as often as I would like.
But don't worry, we will still be here when you do have time to post. In the meantime, we will just enjoy the recipes you have already shared:)
Life happens! As others have said in the past. We hope life gets a little easier for you when you've finished with your endeavors at getting your esthetician career back on track. We will be here for you.
In the meantime I think I need to make these biscuits to pair up with some jams and jellies for breakfast. Looking forward to more of your wonderful recipes whenever you can find the time to post them for us.
Deb,
I am sorry you are working so hard this summer and not in the kitchen as much. I miss your posts.
The biscuits look great, and I LOVE Camo! He looks like my Shasta, who is gone one year ago today. :{
This looks so delicious and easy. Thanks for taking the time to share. I can relate to your work/time issues. I went back to work full time last week, after being a SAHM for the past 5 years. It is a difficult transition and I'm not sure how my blog fits in with life right now.
Both myself and my entire family love biscuits and you really worked your magic on these! They look fluffy, delicate and drool-worthy! Definitely a recipe that I'd like to try!!
Sorry to hear about those long hours you've been keeping for work! I bet you really enjoy your weekends.
I do love a good biscuit, though I haven't always. These look so light and tender. Hand me some butter and honey, maybe even a pieve of fried chicken and I'd be one happy camper!
Camo is such a pretty kitty!
I don't think these biscuits would last very long. Sunday is usually my day for cooking and in the winter I make enough for the entire week.
Oh my, I think I would drop dead if I had a schedule like that No wonder you haven't had time to blog. I sure hope things get a little easier for you. I do miss your posts and recipes, but on the bright side I can now take the time to wander about your blog and check out all of your past recipes that I have missed. 🙂
Mmmm, biscuits! Love 'em and make them at least once a week. My family is like yours..bread with soup. Makes it easier to sop up what's at the bottom of the bowl.:) So usually it's biscuits with soup or corn bread biscuits when I make chili.
Hi, Debby. I enjoyed this typically fine post of yours as much as I like CI or ATK, of course. Initially I was worried that my cats might not like the idea of the biscuit's name (the smaller one is a laptop-cat, sitting on the keyboard when she feels like, while the larger, George, is fortunately just a lapcat!).
I hope you manage to take some time for yourself.
Thanks,
Dan
Glad to hear the job is going well, even though it is time consuming. Love the biscuits, and will look forward to your posts whenever you have the opportunity!
I have eaten my share of cathead biscuits growing up in the deep South and I have to say that your picture of the biscuits turned out better than the magazine photo. Bravo.
LOVE this!!!! I can't wait to make this recipe…plus I've been looking for a really good foul proof biscuit recipe…looks like this could be it! Gorgeous biscuits and a GORGEOUS cat!!! 🙂
It looks so delicious with or without the butter and honey…
Thanks for sharing with us, even with all the work you are having.
Love,
Lia.
WHOOPEEEE!!!! i just got my bullet…so excited!!! thanx again debbie!!! can't wait to try it out
These biscuits are mouth watering!
Wow what a schedule you are keeping! The biscuit recipe is interesting, and I do love biscuits, but I am going to ck out the rolls you mentioned.
PS Please stop by my blog (http://judyskitchen.blogspot.com) and enter my $70 giveaway. Deadline Sun., 7/25, midnight. Open to all.
Just curious, how many biscuits did you end up with? The recipe says it makes six, but I made this exact same recipe this evening with very heaping scoops of an ice cream scoop, and I had enough dough for eight biscuits.
Dear Gmm,
I never noticed, as I copied the recipe! I got eleven biscuits in a 9" cake pan.
why won't the recipe for this show up? when I scroll down there is no recipe. my 7 year old son REALLY wants me to make them "cuz they look so yummy!!" thanks!
I'm sorry you can't see the recipe card. Sometimes, Internet Explorer causes that problem and I don't know what to say. Try using Google Chrome or Mozilla…or go to http://www.keyingredient.com and then find my profile "foodiewife" and you will see ALL of my recipe cards. If that doesn't work, email me at foodiewife@gmail.com and I will send you the link.
Well,I'm not a Southern Belle either, but I AM a biscuit lover. These look different from any I've made, so they're going on the list of must trys!
I made these this morning for biscuits and gravy and they will be my new favorite for homemade biscuits! I made my own cake flour, and had to adjust the butter/shortening ration because I ran out of real butter. I used an 8″ square glass pan and an ice cream scoop and got 9 beautiful biscuits.
Thank you for the positive feedback. They are easy to make, aren’t they?!
I made these this afternoon because I had some homemade buttermilk I wanted to use up. I missed the 4T vegetable shorting in the recipe but the biscuits still turned out light and fluffy and wonderfully flavorful. II baked them in a cast iron skillet which I have never done before and loved how they turned out, it is my new favorite way to bake them! I used them to make ham and cheese biscuits for lunch and they were a hit! I can’t wait to try making them with some bacon fat and green onion for breakfast sandwiches! A really nice recipe that is easy to make and comes together quickly. Thanks:)
Thank you so much for the positive feedback. Your version sounds delicious!