Biscuits are a big deal around here. And not just at my house but all across North Carolina. We smother biscuits in sawmill gravy for breakfast, shove fried chicken filets in them for lunch, and serve them with pork chops for supper.
Naturally, we’re connoisseurs when it comes to our biscuits. We don’t want them out of a can (no offense to Mr. Pillsbury). We want them from scratch – made with lard and drenched in real butter. We want our biscuits as big as catheads. Why? Because that’s how our mamas made them, our grandmamas, and our great grandmamas before them. It’s tradition… and they just taste better that way.
My mamaw made the best biscuits on the planet. One of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t master them when I had the chance. Her biscuits were like morsels straight from heaven – flaky on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Perfect every time. Even her biscuit dough was delicious.
I watched mamaw make those biscuits a million times, but I just can’t pull them off the way she did. They come out of my oven like rocks. Luckily, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
I found a recipe that works for me – and the fam seems to like it. Though the ingredients aren’t the same, I still feel like I’m channeling my little old mamaw when I whip up a batch. If you don’t have a recipe of your own, feel free to use mine. It’s not mamaw’s, but it’s certainly better than what you’ll get out of a can! 😉
Cassie’s Cathead Biscuits
Ingredients:
- 2 c White Lily Self-Rising Flour
- 1 c buttermilk
- 1 tbsp lard
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- Salt
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400
- Knead lard through flour until the flour looks grainy
- Add buttermilk and mix with hands until you’ve formed a ball of dough. Sprinkle with flour if the dough feels too sticky.
- Patty biscuits out with hands and place in a greased pan
- Bake for 15 minutes
- Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter and sprinkle with salt
- Put biscuits back in the oven at 400 for 5 more minutes or until tops are golden brown.
Makes 7-8 biscuits.
