The first time I visited Cracker Barrel on a family road trip, their warm, fluffy biscuits stole the show. These golden-brown delights with their perfect crumb have become a staple at this beloved Southern restaurant chain. After multiple attempts to recreate their magic at home, this four-ingredient copycat recipe delivers that same irresistible taste and texture you know and love.
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
These biscuits achieve their signature texture through the perfect ratio of Bisquick to buttermilk. The touch of sugar balances the slight tang from the buttermilk, while melted butter creates those delicious crispy edges. Placing biscuits close together in the pan helps them rise higher as they bake, creating that fluffy interior Cracker Barrel is famous for.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Butter – Adds rich flavor and creates flaky layers
- Bisquick mix – Provides the perfect blend of flour, leavening agents, and fat for consistent results
- Buttermilk – Creates tenderness and adds a slight tanginess that enhances flavor
- Sugar – Balances the tang and promotes beautiful browning
How to Make Cracker Barrel Biscuits with Bisquick
My recipe starts with Bisquick, the familiar baking mix in the bright, yellow box. It was invented in 1931 and has been a staple in American kitchens ever since.
- Mix Bisquick, buttermilk, and sugar together.
- Add melted butter and stir until a soft dough forms.
- Turn dough onto a floured surface.
- Knead and roll out dough.
- Cut out biscuits with a floured biscuit cutter or glass.
- Place biscuits next to each other in an ungreased cake pan.
- Flatten biscuits slightly.
- Bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
You can also purchase the Cracker Barrel biscuit mix directly from the famous restaurant.
How to Make Homemade Bisquick Mix
If you don’t have Bisquick on hand, don’t worry. One cup of Bisquick can be substituted with the following homemade mixture:
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt
- 2 1⁄2 tablespoons of oil or melted butter (or by cutting in 2 1⁄2 tbsp of Crisco or lard).
For detailed instructions, go to my homemade Bisquick mix post.
Southern-Style Cracker Barrel Copycat Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups Bisquick mix
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix first three ingredients together; add melted butter into batter. Stir ingredients until soft dough forms. Turn onto a surface that has been dusted with flour,
- Knead 20 times, roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut biscuits and place them in an ungreased 8×8 inch cake pan. Place biscuits next to each other. When you have placed all of them in there, flatten them slightly.
- Bake the biscuits for 8 to 10 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Storage and Reheating
- Counter: Store in airtight container for up to 2 days
- Refrigerator: Keep for up to 1 week in sealed container
- Freezer: Freeze baked and cooled biscuits for up to 3 months
- Freezing unbaked biscuits: Cut out biscuits, freeze on baking sheet until solid, then transfer to freezer bag
- Reheating: Warm in 300°F oven for 5-7 minutes or microwave for 10-15 seconds
Love Cracker Barrel? Try these copycat recipes!
Here are some more cracker barrel recipes to make at home:
- Eggs in a Basket
- Country Mashed Potatoes
- Bacon Green Beans
- Sweet Baby Carrot
- Homestyle Fried Chicken
- Copycat Cracker Barrel Grilled Chicken Tenderloins
- Double Chocolate Fudge Coca Cola Cake
More Biscuit Recipes
- Honey Butter Biscuits
- KFC Biscuits
- Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits
- Freezing Biscuits
- Make Ahead Biscuits
Check out more of my easy biscuit recipes and the best Cracker Barrel copycat recipes here on CopyKat.com!
I worked in Cracker Barrel for a year in the back. The biscuits are made fresh almost every 30 minutes and we have buttermilk and a package of biscuit mix. I also have other recipes in my head from working there. Like their corn muffins. But this is the closest recipe I could find.
I’ve been on the hunt for the absolute best biscuit recipe. So far have done copycat KFC (a grandchild’s favorite), Bojangles, and now this one because Cracker Barrel makes my favorite biscuits. I have also tried Alton Brown’s recipe and his Ma Mae’s but didn’t like them as well as either fast food recipes. For my taste, this CB copycat came out a bit too sweet so I’ll use only half the sugar next time. Also a bit on the dry side but I cooked for 11 mins because I like my biscuits a bit more brown on top. Will stick to 9 mins next time. I used a two-inch biscuit cutter (size cutter not specified in recipe) and the recipe made 13 biscuits. I prefer larger biscuits so will use 2.5 cutter next time. My daughter worked at CB a few years ago and when I told her I wanted to make CB biscuits, she asked a bit disdainfully “Why?” LOL Kudos to you for getting this recipe so close!
6 cups flour
1 cup vegetable shortening
2/3 cup buttermilk
-blend the flour and shortening to make a “dry mix” (should look like cornmeal)
-add in buttermilk
-blend 1 minute in mixer
-turn out on floured surface and fold 4 times. you do not want to knead this 20 times you will overwork the dough.
-roll out 1 inch thick
-cook in oven that was preheated @ 425 for 10 minutes(longer if you like them dark)
-slather top with melted butter after you bring it out of the oven.
granted CB uses convection ovens to cook the biscuits, and the dry mix is done in “bulk”, but the ratio should just about be right. CB does not knead to death the dough, basically fold it on itself like 4 times and roll out. Now if you are going to make the dumplings, you knead the hell out of that 😉
Your recipe is missing one thing. A hint of wood smoke. Gandma cooked on a wood stove and inevitably that smoke would faintly flavor the biscuits. I can taste it in Cracker Barrel’s biscuits. How it gets in there is probably bottled smoke. It is very strong in their white gravy.
Awesome & Delicious Biscuits! Had to make the substitute Buttermilk, which emulsified quickly and worked great. YUMMY & Thanks ever so much!!!
So, last night I called multiple cracker barrel restaurants, using various techniques to trick them into telling me the secret…some techniques including telling them I was allergic to soy and to make sure they didn’t use shortening with soy in tbem, and even told them I was allergic to lard..mneedless to say the last time I called it just plain asked…it’s flour, buttermilk, and 100% vegetable shortening; they butter the pan and brush them with butter before and after baking
You are a super sleuth 😉 Those biscuits would be amazing if made with lard.
They are not frozen, fresh made daily, all day.
There’s a big taste of baking powder in their biscuits. You won’t get that using bisquick.
These biscuits were so great, we could not even “taste” the biscuit mix in the recipe. This recipe is a real keeper! Thanks for sharing it. Would have given it ten stars if that were possible.
https://copykat.com/cracker-barrel-old-country-store-biscuits/
Wow thanks 😉 I appreciate the comment.
hello. how much shortening should be used? there is no mention of shortening in the recipe..only buttermilk, sugar and butter for the pan. thanks.
They still use self rising flour, cut in the shortening and add buttermilk while mixing in the mixer. I used to take a 1 gallon pitcher and fill it heaping full of the flour mixture (we pre-made the flour mix to keep up with business) dump in the mixer, then 1/2 gallion of buttermilk and mix. I am a little fuzzy on that one. The dumplins use the same flour mix as the flour mix FYI.. I think the recipe for us to make the flour was (you can cut it down of course)
15 pounds of self rising flour (in mixer)
44 ounces (I *think*) shortening
throw in a mixer with a paddle attachment and mix for 3 (or 5?) minutes.
That translates to 2 tablespoons of fat (shortening/leaf lard/and or butter) per cup of White Lily Self-Rising Flour according to my calculations (the ratio I always use). Anybody who does not get a rise is using plain flour, not self-rising. To get the exact same biscuit as Cracker Barrel you need a commercial oven.
what kind of shortening? Do they use lard?
You can use vegetable shortening
We’ve been told they use lard in making their biscuits and dumplings too.
I cook at Cracker Barrel. No lard. They did add bacon drippings when I first started but deleted that to make the recipe a little healthier. funny. The biscuit ingrediants are dumped into a hough mixer on low speed while you add the buttermilk. Turned up to medium for about 5 minutes or until it forms a ball. Use the paddle. Turn onto your floured steel counter (your work surface should be cold) and roll out and cut and into the oven. Don’t let them sit out after cutting. Hope this helps you. Your dough will look weird in the bowl but will firm up nicely while rolling. Use plenty of flour when rolling out. Their shortening is packaged for them as well as their proprietary condensed soup blends. The lady above is about right with the mix ratio. Happy rolling.
Back in my younger days I worked at Cracker Barrel and they use White Lily Self-Rising Flour, shortening and buttermilk to make their biscuits…they don’t use a biscuit mix.