If you want to keep 'em comin' back to the table then you need to make cathead biscuits. The name of these Southern staples refers to their large size (about as big as a cat's head, albeit a small cat). When I read this recipe I couldn't wait to make them - just the name alone had me in the kitchen in a flash! Cathead biscuits just struck my funny bone! But don't let the name fool you - these biscuits are no laughing matter - they are the everything you hope for in a homemade biscuit and more.
Instead of mixing the dry ingredients into the wet you mix the wet into the dry...not a huge thing but it does make a difference. These biscuits come out fluffy, not flaky, and fluffy is a very good thing. The mister loved these - the first time I made them he said they were the best biscuits he'd ever had. Not particularly high praise since the man thinks plain boiled chicken is haute cuisine. But the second time I made these biscuits, he repeated his love for them, over and over. And here's the truly remarkable thing...for once we actually agree on something!
There is a secret ingredient in these biscuits...hope you're sitting down...it's bacon grease. Each bite will give just the slightest hint of smoky bacon, so eating one is not an option, it's two or three or none at all. Oh, they are so easy to make you won't believe it...so fry yourself up some bacon 'cause you're gonna need the grease!
You can bake them on a rimmed baking sheet or in a cast iron skillet, which I prefer. Either way they will rise up into the most beautiful biscuits. Served with a bit of honey butter and jam and you've got yourself some serious eats!
Things of beauty. Let me rephrase that, biscuits of beauty. Nope, almost got it, but let me give it another go...HUGE beautiful biscuits! And they taste as good as they look...even better! If you don't have bacon grease, you can use lard/Crisco...but then you won't have the amazing flavor the bacon grease gives to these biscuits...and really, if you're going to eat biscuits with honey butter and jam, bacon grease is not your worst enemy!
Cathead Biscuits - Adapted from Epicurious
2 cups buttermilk
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
6 tablespoons bacon fat, slightly softened
6 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces and slightly softened, plus more, melted, if desired to brush on top
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided, plus more for rolling
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In large bowl whisk baking powder, salt, sugar together. Add buttermilk, softened bacon grease and softened butter. Add 2 cups flour and mix with a fork until mixture resembles porridge. Using a fork, or your hands, press fats against side of bowl to cut into smaller, irregular, flattened pieces. Fold in remaining 1 1/2 cups flour and mix with hands until a wet dough forms. Turn out dough onto a well-floured surface. Dust top of dough with more flour. Gently fold dough into itself until it feels like a pillow and is no longer sticky. Using a floured butter knife, divide dough into 11 or 12 equal pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time, dip cut sides in flour and gently roll into a ball with your hands. Nestle each ball side by side in a large cast iron skillet or on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake biscuits until lightly browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Brush with melted butter after baking, if desired (just do it, now is not the time to worry about calories!) Serve with butter, honey butter or jam.
