I was instantly intrigued by this recipe because of it’s name and because my family loves biscuits. This Cat Head version is super easy to make (no rolling pin required), and they bake up tender, fluffy and delicious! They don’t have the flaky texture that a rolled out biscuit has but they are tasty all the same…and perfect when slathered with butter and your favorite jam.
You should be able to get 6-8 biscuits depending on the size of muffin scoop you use (I got 8). Enjoy!
Cat Head Biscuits
-recipe from The Complete Cook’s Country TV Show Cookbook
As big as a cat’s head, golden brown on the outside, but soft and fluffy as a dinner roll on the inside, these regional biscuits deserve national recognition. Serves 6.
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and softened
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
MIX DOUGH: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease 9-inch cake pan. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Rub butter and shortening into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in buttermilk until combined.
PORTION BISCUITS: Following the instructions at left, use greased 1/2-cup measure or large spring-loaded ice cream scoop to transfer 6 heaping portions of dough into prepared pan, placing 5 around pan’s perimeter and 1 in center.
BAKE BISCUITS: Bake until puffed and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. Serve. (Biscuits can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for 2 days.)
NOTES ON FORMING CAT HEAD BISCUITS: Many biscuits are kneaded, rolled, stamped out, and then baked on sheet pans. For Cat Head Biscuits, we instead scoop the sticky, shaggy dough and nestle the biscuits in a cake pan. (A spring-loaded ice cream scoop does the job neatly and quickly.) All snuggled together, they’re forced to grow up, rather than out, and the sides stay soft and white.
FLOUR MIXOLOGY: Southern bakers swear by White Lily all-purpose flour. They say it makes biscuits soft and downy, exactly the texture we sought for our Cat Head Biscuits. But what if you don’t live in the South and can’t easily get your hands on a bag? We found we could replicate it by combining equal amounts of ordinary all-purpose flour (made from a mix of high- and low-gluten wheats) and cake flour (a soft-fine-textured flour).
Tags: biscuits, Cat Head biscuits, drop biscuits
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