Cat Head Biscuits are not only fluffy biscuits the size of a cat’s head, but they’re filled with a pocket of melted cheese.
Last summer, I was invited to an epic picnic in Raleigh.
This wasn’t your usual PB&J and watermelon kind of picnic. It was a giant potluck in someone’s backyard.
Someone cooked a pig and someone else served home-brewed beer. Popular local chefs brought their favorite dishes. People hauled in huge, hot platters of fried chicken, mac-and-cheese and fresh-baked cookies.
The food multiplied like magic. The picnic was held to raise money for a local charity, but it was worth every penny.
At one point, people started whispering to each other, “The cathead biscuits are here!”
I wasn’t sure if I’d heard right. Cats? Biscuits? In the same sentence? My friend noticed my confused look.
“You’ve never had a cat head biscuit?” I shook my head. Shocked, my friend grabbed my hand and we went in search of them (despite our full bellies) before they all disappeared.
Cat head biscuits, I learned, are godly little things. They are unlike my go-to beer biscuits and are closer to a classic biscuit.
What are cat head biscuits?
In fact, they are fluffy, buttermilk biscuits brushed with melted butter. Inside, there’s a pocket of gooey, melted cheese.
I did some research on the recipe, which apparently hails from a small section of Eastern North Carolina, toward Rocky Mount and Tarboro.
Many restaurants in that region serve these cheesy biscuits, according to this article from the Raleigh News & Observer.
Like Southern cheese straws or Cheerwine cocktails, cat head biscuits are a perfectly North Carolina recipe that is worth cherishing.
Cat head biscuit recipe
I asked the picnic host who made the cat head biscuits, and she put me in touch with her friend who brought several skillets’ worth to the party.
She gave me a great base for the recipe, which I have adapted each time I’ve made them. They just go so perfectly with bacon and eggs for breakfast, or as a side with soup like this black bean soup or this chicken and cabbage soup.
They also go incredibly well with barbecue dishes like apple cider pulled pork.
The baker also imparted these pieces of cathead biscuit wisdom + knowledge:
- Keep a cold kitchen. You suffer for a good biscuit.
- Use ‘hoop cheese’ — it’s the only way. (Use a mild cheddar if you can’t find it.)
- They’re called Cathead Biscuits because, when they rise, they’re the size of a cat’s head. (“You know country people just make up s***,” she added.)
Also, I’m still not sure if they’re cathead biscuits or cat head biscuits or cat’s head biscuits, but you know, that is the kind of thing that doesn’t really matter and also is better debated around a hot skillet of biscuits.
How to make cat head biscuits
Speaking of skillets, you will need one. You can bake these in a baking dish or on a baking sheet, but I don’t recommend it.
If you have a cast-iron skillet, use it. Butter it and arrange each biscuit inside. These biscuits perform best if you can smush them together to trap the heat, which will make them softer and your cheese meltier.
You’ll want to cut them out with a biscuit cutter or a glass so they are equally sized. They are not the same as drop biscuits, in which you just spoon dough onto a cookie sheet. (Though if you are looking for drop biscuits, this buttermilk recipe is A+.)
You’ll want to brush your homemade cat head biscuits with melted butter during the baking process so they get golden brown.
Also, make sure you buy real buttermilk for your biscuits. You can make cat head biscuits without buttermilk, but you’ll want to make a buttermilk substitute.
This is the kind of recipe that inspired this blog. Dishes you stumble across while on a road trip. Family recipes with backstories. Foods you can’t get anywhere else.
OK, well maybe not every recipe I post is like that, but that’s the idea at the heart of this blog. So I thought it was finally time to share my version of Cat Head Biscuits.
I made them for a summer potluck with my friends, where I also served an incredible Citrus Watermelon Sangria (if I do say so myself).
I finally feel like I’ve perfected it. What’s your favorite piece of North Carolina cuisine? Let me know in the comments! // susannah
Cathead Biscuits
ingredients
- 4½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter cubed (see note)
- 1½ cup to 2 cups buttermilk
- 3 tablespoons salted butter melted
- 8 ounces hoop cheese cut into 1-inch cubes
instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Grease a cast-iron skillet or a baking sheet.
- Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut butter into flour mixture. It should resemble coarse crumbs, with no large chunks of butter remaining. (If butter gets too soft, refrigerate mixture for 20 minutes.)
- Make a well (or hole) in the mixture by pushing it up around the side of the bowl. Add the buttermilk ½ cup at a time, stirring just to moisten all ingredients. Dough should be soft and moist — don’t over mix. Add remaining ¼ cup of buttermilk as needed, or discard.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead gently until dough just holds together, about 10 times. Add more flour to sticky dough as needed.
- Roll or pat dough into a square. Fold in half and pat flat again. Repeat 2 or 3 times to create flakes.
- Cut biscuits with a 3-inch biscuit cutter a round glass or a knife. Place a cube of hoop cheese into the center and form into a ball quickly. Make sure cheese is entirely covered with dough.
- Place biscuits into cast-iron skillet, touching. Lightly brush the tops with melted butter. Bake in center of the hot oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with more melted butter. Bake for another 10 minutes, until golden brown and firm. Brush with more melted butter. Serve warm.
notes
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Rosanne says
Fabulous!! As good as they look. This will be a winter side for our Sunday Family Dinners
Susannah says
That sounds wonderful, Rosanne!
Rebecca says
Eastern NC style BBQ! There’s nothing better 🙂
Susannah says
So true! Although I’m a confused Piedmont resident — I use both Western- AND Eastern-style sauces!
McCrimmon says
They are delish and the recipe is perfect! They taste just like Abram’s, which is a returaunt that makes these biscuits from scratch in Tarboro, NC. Thank you for sharing!
Sherry Abrams says
I’m from Pinetops where the original Abram’s Restaurant who started these biscuits is located. My mom, who grew up here, actually made them when I was a kid even before they had them at the restaurant. They are soooo good. The struggle to not eat one everyday is real! At the restaurant you can order a plain cheese biscuit or add a variety of breakfast meats (country ham, smoked or patty sausage, fried pork tenderloin, fried egg, or fried chicken breast) I also love collard sandwiches from Robeson County, area of southeastern NC that is home to the Lumbee tribe. A collard sandwich consists of thinly fried cornbread critters piled with collards, a slice or two of fried fat back, and chow chow (a pickled veggie blend of finely chopped cabbage, carrots, and onion). My other regional fave from eastern NC is “red” potatoes. Often served with BBQ or at cookouts, these are peeled red or white potatoes boiled in a sauce of water, paprika, ketchup, butter, salt and pepper. They are easy and delicious!
Sherry Abrams says
That should have said cornbread FRITTERS! I missed the autocorrect fail ??♀️
Susannah says
Haha! I knew what you meant. 😉
Susannah says
That sounds amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this, Sherry. I can’t say I’ve ever tried those potatoes but I now I must make it to Pinetops!
Selma says
Hey Sherry! I grew up in Wilson, and my first job was at Abrams. I was 14 and worked in the kitchen and helped Ms. Melba make biscuits. After I moved to Raleigh, I missed Abrams tenderloin and cheese biscuits, so I cobbled together a cathead recipe from memory using bits of other recipes. My goal was to get as close to Abrams as possible. And that is the recipe I used for the biscuits I took to the cookout, which is how this inspired recipe ended up on the Internet. So thank your family for all of us 🙂
PS red ‘taters rule.
Karen Eriksen says
We love these biscuits and have made them several times. It’s a great way to have a little bit of eastern Carolina wherever you are.
Susannah says
Hey Karen! I am so very glad you love this recipe as much as I do!
Selma Pittman says
I was just looking for an alternate version of cat heads, and hi! I’m the person who brought them to the cookout! I read your story and was like, “I brought some cat heads to a cookout in Raleigh once, wait a minute… country people make up shit… that has to be me!!” Glad to see my recipe worked out! I just found an older variant that mixes cheese through the biscuit, and I’m trying it this morning. I’m out of milk, so let’s see if half and half works. Into the breach! Happy baking!
Susannah says
Oh hello! I’m so glad you found it so I can give you proper credit on the recipe! I make them for Thanksgiving just about every year now — plus whenever I crave them, which is regularly. 😉 Curious to hear how mixing cheese through the biscuit goes! Thanks so much for the recipe and the comment!