Southern "cathead" buttermilk biscuits

Southern “Cathead” Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients:
3 cups self-rising flour + more for flouring board and cutter
1 stick of Crisco Butter (Crisco Butter sticks)
½1 Teaspoon of Cream of Tartar
1 Teaspoon of Sugar
½1 Teaspoon of Pink Himalayan salt
1 ¼-1/2 cups of cold Cultured Buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 420º F. Lightly spray rimmed baking sheet or cast-iron skillet. Set aside.  For small batches, use a cast-iron skillet, for larger batches use a baking sheet.

Add flour to a large mixing bowl.  Add in Cream of Tartar, Sugar and Salt.  Fold in the Crisco Butter stick. Gently mix in the butter stick in the dough until dough has soft pebbles combined.   Make a well in middle of the dough.  Pour in buttermilk and stir gently until just combined. Do not overmix.  The dough will begin to come together, but do not knead until it becomes a ball. 

Turn the loose dough out onto a floured board (or surface) and with floured hands, bring the dough together forming a rectangle, getting all the loose flour incorporated with the rest of the dough.  The key to this recipe is not to over mix. Over mixing can cause the dough to yield drier biscuits. 

Turn the loose dough out onto a floured board (or surface) and with floured hands, bring the dough together.  FOLD and FLATTEN, FOLD and FLATTEN, continuing doing this 5-6 times. (Fold the right side of the rectangle over to the left side, then flatten dough with your palms.)

• Folding the dough a few times creates numerous flaky textures on the biscuits. Make sure to handle the dough carefully.  Overmixing will release the gluten; thus, dough will be tough.
• Lightly flour a 2-inch biscuit cutter.  Use your hands to pat dough about ½ inch think.  Cut out biscuits using the 2-inch biscuit cutter.

Place biscuits into skillet or on baking sheet pan, leaving about an inch between biscuits to allow them to rise and cook fully. Place in preheated oven and bake about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.  Your biscuits should be golden on the outside, and not sticky on the inside. 
 
Be sure and butter the inside and add in your favorite jam. You can store left over biscuits in a Ziploc bag for a couple of days.  Pop them in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds to warm.
 
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Comment:  Us Southerner’s refer to large top biscuits as “cathead” biscuits. You might hear folks say, “There has big as a cats head.”  A Southern staple growing up in my house.    I modified the ingredients somewhat to make it my own.  I also prefer a moist flaky biscuit. It wouldn’t be a Sunday morning without these.   This recipe makes a great base recipe for a variety of biscuit flavors. 

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