Buttermilk Cathead Biscuits Recipes

BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
• Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Rub 2 tablespoons of the cold butter into the flour with your fingertips until completely absorbed. Work the remaining 5 tablespoons of cold butter into the flour with your fingertips until pea-sized bits of butter remain. Use a rubber spatula to stir the buttermilk into the flour until the mixture comes together into a shaggy dough.
• Dust a cutting board or work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto it. Pat the dough into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle. Fold dough in thirds, like a letter, and then pat into a 3/4-inch thick rectangle. Cut biscuits out using a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter and put on the prepared baking sheet. Press together the remaining scraps of dough and cut out more biscuits. Brush the biscuit tops with buttermilk.
• Bake until the tops are lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Cool on the pan at least 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

CATHEAD BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Combine 2 cups of the flour with the baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the shortening and 3 tablespoons of the butter until the mixture is the size of small peas.
• Add the buttermilk, and stir until the dough is just mixed and starts to form a ball.
• Rest the dough in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Sprinkle a work surface with flour. Transfer the dough to the floured surface, and sprinkle with a little extra flour. Knead the dough 3 to 4 times. Do not overwork the dough. It will make the dough tough and difficult to work with.
• Flatten the dough into a 3/4- to 1-inch-thick disk with a rolling pin. Cut out biscuits with a large 4- or 5-inch biscuit cutter.
• Bake the biscuits until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
• Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Brush the hot biscuits with the butter. Turn on the broiler. Broil the biscuits until desired brownness.

CATHEAD BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat. (You can also bake the biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet.)
• In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Pour in buttermilk and mix until just barely combined. It will be a shaggy mass. (Alternatively, you can mix the dough in a food processor: Pulse to combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add butter and pulse until it resembles coarse meal. Pour in buttermilk through feed tube and pulse until just barely combined.)
• Turn shaggy mass out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly, using the heel of your hand to compress and push dough away from you, then fold it back over itself. Give dough a small turn and repeat four or five times. (You want to just barely activate the gluten, not overwork it.)
• Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out dough 1 inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch round cutter dipped in flour, cut out rounds (press cutter straight down without twisting so biscuits will rise evenly when baked).
• Place biscuits on prepared sheet. (If biscuits are baked close together, sides will be tender. If biscuits are baked farther apart, sides will be crisp.)
• Reroll scraps once. Do not simply roll them into a ball; this will create a knot of gluten strands. Instead, place the pieces one on top of the other in layers, then roll out dough and cut out more rounds.
• Bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool just slightly. Serve warm.

BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a 10 1/2-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven to heat.
• Add the flour to a large bowl. Use your hands or a pastry cutter to work the shortening into the flour until the crumbs are the size of large peas.
• Slowly pour in the buttermilk, then mix with your hands until the mixture starts to form a dough. Add buttermilk if it feels too dry. As soon as the dough comes together, transfer to a floured work surface. Press the dough into a square and fold it over itself to create layers, using additional flour to keep the dough from sticking. Shape into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Use a 2- to 3-inch biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits, rerolling the scraps to use all the dough.
• Take the skillet out of the oven and add 2 tablespoons melted butter. Place the biscuits in the skillet, then lightly brush the tops with the remaining butter.
• Bake until lightly golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then serve.

CATHEAD BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C). Grease an 8-inch cake pan.
• Sift flour and salt together into a large mixing bowl. Make a dent in flour by pushing flour from center toward sides of bowl. Add 2 walnut-size lumps of shortening and a splash of buttermilk to the flour where you made the dent. Work the shortening into the flour using fingers in a twisting motion (rub thumb against pointer and middle finger motion) until the shortening is fully incorporated into the flour.
• Pour buttermilk into the flour about 1/4 cup at a time, continuing to work it in with your fingers until the buttermilk is completely incorporated into a sticky dough.
• Roll dough into 8 large balls and drop into prepared cake pan, working around the outside and putting the last one in middle to fill the pan. Press dough balls with back of fingers to flatten until they touch and are about 3/4- to 1-inch thick.
• Bake in preheated oven until the tops are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Brush tops with melted butter.

SOUTHERN "CATHEAD" BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F
• Measure 1 cup of buttermilk into liquid measuring cup. I use 3/4 cup whole milk with a splash of Heinz White Vinegar. Let sit a few minutes until you need it.
• In a medium bowl, measure the flour by spooning it into a one-cup measure and leveling off with a knife. (This is very important!) Sometimes I sift it. Most of the time I do not.
• Make a deep well and add the oil and buttermilk.
• Stir gently until moistened. Sprinkle with even flour to allow handling of the dough.
• I shape my biscuits by hand but you could also roll them out and cut them. Place them in a 9x9 Pampered Chef Baker (stoneware.) I have used Pampered Chef stoneware for the last ten years and it has never failed me. However, for those of you still using metal bakeware, just use a regular square baking pan.

BUTTERMILK CATHEAD BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450°.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
• Cut in the shortening, using your fingers or a pastry cutter, until the flour mixture has the consistency of course-ground cornmeal.
• Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add the buttermilk.
• Stir the mixture until the buttermilk is fully incorporated.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead carefully a couple of times.
• To make the biscuits, pinch off a 3-inch ball of dough and mold a slightly rounded ball.
• Place the biscuits onto an ungreased baking pan.
• Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the tops of the biscuits turn a light golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter.