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Biscuits, Scones, Donuts, & Granola | March 5, 2014

Cracker Barrel Biscuits (copycat recipe)

If you’re a fan of biscuits, especially Cracker Barrel Biscuits, this is your lucky day! My make at home version of Cracker Barrel Biscuits is receiving two thumbs up from everyone.

Cracker Barrel Biscuits Copycat Recipe
Cracker Barrel Biscuits Copycat Recipe
Cracker Barrel Biscuits Copycat Recipe

You know how I love a good biscuit.  This recipe is a Southern classic. It’s rumored to be the Cracker Barrel Biscuits Recipe. It calls for ingredients all self-respecting Southern cooks have in their kitchen: self rising flour, shortening, and buttermilk. If you’re a Yankee, (like me) you probably don’t have self rising flour on hand at all times. No worries. You can make your own in a minute with three simple ingredients.

Oh, one more tip, My dear friend Miss Mary(what the kids love to call her) was visiting from Mississippi a few weeks ago. I made a big batch of biscuits for breakfast one morning, and we ended up having quite a few left over. I’m kind of a biscuit snob, so I’m not one to eat a leftover biscuit. I was about to throw them away when she told me the secret to re-heating leftover biscuits…

Cracker Barrel Biscuits Copycat Recipe

Listen up. Split them in half. Butter both of the insides. Lay them on a cookie sheet and broil just until lightly browned and heated through. Careful not to burn. They taste fresh and almost better than the first baking. We ate up every last crumb.
The rumor about these being the Cracker Barrel recipe? I’ve eaten a Cracker Barrel biscuit and I can tell you this. This recipe makes a biscuit that’s tender and flaky, like CB’s. A bit of crunch from being baked at 450, a bit salty, which is perfect with the jam you’re going to put inside. If we’re comparing, I have to say no restaurant I’ve ever dined in serves a biscuit this good. It’s hard to beat a home made biscuit.
Get baking.

Cracker Barrel Biscuits Copycat Recipe
5 from 1 vote
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Cracker Barrel Biscuits

Ingredients

  • 2 cups self rising flour or you may make your own, recipe below
  • 1/3 cup solid shortening I prefer Crisco
  • 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk shaken
  • melted butter

Self Rising Flour:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Mix together in a bowl with a fork. Store in a container or Ziploc bag until ready to use. I double this for the Cracker Barrel recipe and have a little leftover for the next time I make biscuits.
  • Measure out 2 cups for the recipe above.

Instructions

  1. Pre heat oven to 450 degrees, and set rack in middle of oven.
  2. Place the self rising flour into a medium size bowl. Cut the shortening in , using a pastry cutter, or two knives. Add the buttermilk all at once. Gently fold the buttermilk into the flour and shortening, until the dough gathers together, and the flour is mixed in. I use a large wood spoon for this.

  3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat gently into a disc about one inch thick. Do not over handle the biscuits, this will make them tough, and not tender.
  4. Gently cut the biscuits, using a biscuit cutter or glass. Place onto a cookie sheet. Brush the tops of biscuits with melted butter.

  5. Make sure the oven is completely pre heated and up to 450 when the biscuits are placed in to bake.
  6. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top and bottom.

    Makes 9- 2 1/2 inch biscuits. Biscuit yield will depend on size of cutter.

Cracker Barrel Biscuits Copycat Recipe

26 thoughts on “Cracker Barrel Biscuits (copycat recipe)

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  1. I'm making these tonight and they look fabulous! Just wondering, is the melted butter just for when we eat them, or do I pour it over the top when they're done?

  2. shortening??? no way! you need the real thing, and i don't mean Coke. Lard is where it's at. just like you need chicken fat to make a properly light and fluffy matzoh ball. anything else is like margarine is to butter.

      1. Markus, Thanks for leaving a comment! I’ve had feedback from a couple of other people who used to work there, and they also confirmed the ingredients. Thanks again for stopping by A Bountiful Kitchen!

    1. Graziella Baratta, I would love your gluten free recipe. My baby girl can’t have gluten, but she loves, loves, loves Cracker Barrell, well, she did before we found out gluten didn’t love her. Margie

  3. I called 2 different Cracker Barrel locations to ask them what is in their biscuits…needless to say I was as surprised as the next person would be whenever they actually told me: bagged mix (they said included self rising flour and 100% vegetable shortening) and then they said they thin it with buttermilk and roll them out and bake them. So, maybe the measurements aren't exact, but the ingredients are!

  4. I called 2 different Cracker Barrel locations to ask them what is in their biscuits…needless to say I was as surprised as the next person would be whenever they actually told me: bagged mix (they said included self rising flour and 100% vegetable shortening) and then they said they thin it with buttermilk and roll them out and bake them. So, maybe the measurements aren't exact, but the ingredients are!

  5. I just tried this recipe and it came out nicely. This version is as dripping buttery as cracker barrel, but its prett darn close. Recipe was confusing when it came to butter and how much but i just used 2/3 cup of buttermilk but noticed the dough didnt come together so i melted and shook 2 tbsp of butter and mixed it in and it did the trick. I also didnt feel like shaping them so i took a spoon and made drop biscuits and it still looked and tasted great.

    Thanks for the recipe! Will def make larger batches next time!

  6. I learned from my Grandmother Westmoreland to take the leftover biscuits. (that she had cooked in the oven around 5 a.m. in her good old iron skillet) and when we grandchildren woke up, she would remove the the biscuits and then she would turn the oven back on ( about 400 to 425 degrees F.) She would then fill a good sized deep dish bowl with cold water (back then it was well water-LOL! some youngsters don’t know what that is!) Then she would dip her good old cat-head biscuits in the water for about 1 to1&1/2 seconds and place them in that good old seasoned iron skillet. Bake for about 7 to 8 minutes. Yum! Good childhood memories!

    1. I should say they were not actual cat-head biscuits;
      my brother and I just called them that because they would rise so high! Sorry if I offended anyone. I have 6 cats and they don’t even like biscuits! LOL!

      1. There are actually recipes for “cat head biscuits”. They are named because of their larger shape (like a cat’s head).

      2. Bet you are from the south! Me too! it has been many years since I heard “cat head biscuits”. Thanks for memory!

      3. My word, we don’t want to offended someone…Everyone is so touchy. Cat head biscuits only meant they were the size of a cathead…And I bet your granny’s biscuits were the best, just like mine was…

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    1. There’s nothing better than a good biscuit, butter and jam, thank you for sharing Wanda, and for reading ABK!
      xo
      Si

  8. 5 stars
    This recipe is spot on. I worked for Cracker Barrel for 8 1/2 years and that’s exactly how we made them. We had to make up bins of dry mix and we used self rising flour and shortening. Buttermilk is the liquid.