Cat Head Biscuits

Biscuits 4

Source:  Battle of the Biscuits by King Arthur Flour

This is a super simple one I plan to try.  It uses 2 ingredients - self rising flour and heavy cream.

Biscuits 3

Source The Science of Biscuits by Instructables

This guy experimented with biscuit variations item by item and taste tested on friends and family.  Milk or buttermilk, how much baking powder, shortening or butter, cooking temp and more...  You really need to go to the link to get a good understanding of the difference each ingredient can make!

So how do you make the best, flakiest, most optimal biscuit ever?

Stir the dry ingredients together.

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt

But maybe you just like your biscuits to be as big as possible. If so, up the baking powder, decrease the liquid and butter content, and knead them a bit more.

Cut in the fat.

• 1/2 cup of fat (butter, stick margarine, or shortening)

Or maybe you just want the richest, crumbliest taste and texture possible. If so, use more fat.

Stir in the liquid.

• 1 cup of liquid (milk, buttermilk, or water)

Knead ~10x.

Dough kneaded only 5x didn't rise quite as much as the other biscuits. It kind of rose and collapsed. The dough that was kneaded 15x and 45x was more "structurally sound" (like the biscuits we've seen before with less butter or milk).

Kneading more makes the dough more homogenous - less crumbly, more spongy... like Pillsbury biscuits from a can.

Kneading more makes the texture slightly tougher. Emphasis on slightly... like, almost unnoticeably.

Kneading somewhere around 10x is probably ideal, but I seriously doubt anyone would complain if you kneaded 5x or 45x. You're not going to absolutely ruin the biscuits by "overworking" them.

Roll ~1 inch thick.

Bake ~15 minutes at 425 F.

Biscuits 2

Source The Southern Lady Cooks

2 cups self-rising flour

1 to 2 tablespoons shortening at room temperature, (Mama used lard and about the size of a walnut)

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon salt, Optional


Work the shortening into the flour until it’s like coarse crumbs. (I use a spoon to do this).

Add the buttermilk and stir until makes a ball in the bowl.

You can either pinch off the dough or cut it with a biscuit cutter. I use a tin can because I like to make these biscuits good size like my mama’s biscuits.

Grease or spray pan.  Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes until brown on top.

This recipe only makes 8 biscuits if you make them like I do. These biscuits are wonderful with a big old piece of country ham on one. They got the name “cathead biscuits” because they are supposed to be as big as a cat’s head!   Enjoy!

Note:  You can also make them using all-purpose flour but you will need to add 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. You can brush melted butter on the tops once cooked or even before cooking if you like.

Biscuits 1

Source: AllRecipes

4 cups self-rising flour (or regular flour with 4 feel teaspoons of baking powder)

1 pinch salt

3 tablespoons room-temperature vegetable shortening (such as Crisco®), or as needed

1 ¾ cups buttermilk, or as needed (or regular milk with 2 teaspoons vinegar)
 - Some commenters said 1-1/2 cups is better.  

¼ cup melted butter for brushing, or to taste


Step 1
Preheat an oven to 475 degrees.  Grease an 8-inch cake pan.

 Step 2
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.

 Step 3
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.  CAREFUL! - Truly add a little at a time because it's not likely you'll need all of this and if too much is used, it'll be a big mess.

 Step 4
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.

 Step 5
Bake in preheated oven until the tops are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Brush tops with melted butter.