Sunday, June 17, 2018

Cathead Biscuits

Hand-formed, extra large, lard-based cathead biscuits, baked in a hot cast iron skillet.
Hand-formed, extra large, lard-based cathead biscuits, baked in a hot cast iron skillet.

Cathead Biscuits


It's hard to believe from modern-day biscuits, that southern biscuits were once teeny, tiny little things. Not so much anymore, because like many foods, we've super-sized them!

Who can blame us, though. From skillet biscuits, to cream biscuits, to sweet potato, classic buttermilk and everything in between, we do love our biscuits in the south and we pretty much love them large.

Enter, Cathead Biscuits.

A free-formed biscuit, about twice as large as the typical southern biscuit, it is believed that the name came from them being compared to the size of a cat's head.

As to the ingredients, to be honest, all biscuits are pretty basic. It's really not rocket science. Flour, some kind of fat, a little liquid and some sort of a leavening agent is pretty much all that is required. In my opinion, there is only one proper flour for successful biscuits here in the south though, and that is White Lily brand.{affil link}

White Lily brand flour makes the best biscuits!

And no, they don't pay me to say so or even know who I am. It just is. Doesn't matter a bit to me where they're located now either, because it is still a superior low-gluten, soft wheat flour that makes for perfect southern biscuits. I've just not seen another flour perform the same with biscuits.


Cold ingredients are the key!

The preferred fat here is either lard or a vegetable shortening, like Crisco, in place of cold butter that is typically used, and mix very quickly with your fingers. Then stick the whole bowl in the freezer while the oven preheats to get it very cold. Stir the buttermilk in with a fork and then, turn the dough out, trying not to handle it much, only enough to gather it together. Instead of rolling and cutting out the biscuits, I like to sort of pat the dough into a tube shape and then cut it into four equal pieces.


That's more than twice as large as my regular buttermilk biscuits. You can also simply pinch off four equals size pieces of dough and round them out, but cathead biscuits should be hand shaped. For this recipe you'll want four biscuits and place into the greased, preheated iron skillet.


Cathead Biscuits!
They'll surely fill you up real good y'all.


If you're a novice at biscuit-making, these are a super easy one to start with. Serve these catheads up all on their own, with some sawmill gravy, homemade sausage gravy, tomato gravy, or even some chocolate gravy, or just butter 'em up and devour them as is.

What is sawmill gravy?

By the way, while most everybody refers to classic sausage gravy as sawmill gravy, did you know they really are not the same? Authentic sawmill gravy is actually made with cornmeal instead of flour!

It is said that it came about when the kitchens that fed the lumberjacks in the Smoky Mountains ran out of flour one day and substituted cornmeal instead. The result is a gritty gravy, that sort of looks like thin grits, or cream of wheat. The cooks joked and referred to it as gravy made from sawdust, it stuck and sawmill gravy was born!


Important Note: There's no paywall on Deep South Dish - recipes, step by step photos and printables are available at no cost to our readers, however, advertising featured on the blog helps to pay for the groceries. If you enjoy the blog but you're using an ad blocker, please consider whitelisting Deep South Dish so I can keep the blog going!

For more of my favorite biscuit recipes, check out the collection on my Pinterest page!



If you make this or any of my recipes, I'd love to see your results! Just snap a photo and hashtag it #DeepSouthDish on social media or tag me @deepsouthdish on Instagram!



Unable to view the printable below on your device? Tap/click here.



Posted by on June 17, 2018
Thank you for supporting my work! Please note that Images and Full Post Content including Recipe ©Deep South Dish. Recipes are offered for your own personal use only and while pinning and sharing links is welcomed and encouraged, do not copy and paste post or recipe text to repost or republish to any social media (such as other Facebook pages, etc.), blogs, websites, forums, or any print medium, without explicit prior permission. Unauthorized use of content from ©Deep South Dish is a violation of both the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and copyright law. All rights reserved.

Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.
120401/120404/110309/110216
.

As an Amazon Associate, Deep South Dish earns from qualifying purchases. See full disclosure for details.




Hey Y’all! Welcome to some good ole, down home southern cooking. Pull up a chair, grab some iced tea, and 'sit a bit' as we say down south. If this is your first time visiting Deep South Dish, you can sign up for FREE updates via EMAIL or you can catch up with us on Facebook and Twitter too!

Articles on this website are protected by copyright. You are free to print and sharing via Facebook share links and pinning with Pinterest are appreciated, welcomed and encouraged, but do not upload and repost photographs, or copy and paste post text or recipe text for republishing on Facebook, other websites, blogs, forums or other internet sites without explicit prior written approval.
Click for additional information.


© Copyright 2008-2024 – Mary Foreman – Deep South Dish LLC - All Rights Reserved

Material Disclosure: This site is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from the provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

DISCLAIMER: This is a recipe site intended for entertainment. By using this site and these recipes you agree that you do so at your own risk, that you are completely responsible for any liability associated with the use of any recipes obtained from this site, and that you fully and completely release Mary Foreman and Deep South Dish LLC and all parties associated with either entity, from any liability whatsoever from your use of this site and these recipes.

ALL CONTENT PROTECTED UNDER THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT. CONTENT THEFT, EITHER PRINT OR ELECTRONIC, IS A FEDERAL OFFENSE. Recipes may be printed ONLY for personal use and may not be transmitted, distributed, reposted, or published elsewhere, in print or by any electronic means. Seek explicit permission before using any content on this site, including partial excerpts, all of which require attribution linking back to specific posts on this site. I have, and will continue to act, on all violations.





Email Subscription DSD Feed