Cracker Barrel’s Buttermilk Biscuits

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This recipe for Cracker Barrel’s Buttermilk Biscuits uses already made biscuit/pancake mix as a shortcut to making these yummy gems. 

Copycat Cracker Barrel Buttermilk Biscuits opened on a plate and in a basket.

Cracker Barrel, grandmothers, and biscuits. All three of them go hand in hand if you ask me! Husband Man’s grandmother made awesome biscuits, supposedly. When she passed away, she took her lovely biscuit recipe with her, leaving everyone to guess what her secret was. I’ve tried baking many biscuits over the years and have not succeeded in finding one that is just like hers until now.


  • LESS THEN 7 INGREDIENTS
  • MINIMAL PREP TIME
  • THEY COMPLIMENT JUST ABOUT ANY DISH
  • BISQUICK-NEED I SAY MORE??

I’m always on the hunt for effortless recipes I can make in the mornings, like these 5 Ingredient Breakfast Muffins. This one originally started out on this site as a two ingredient one. I have tweaked it over the years to resemble Cracker Barrel’s version, or what we think is their version. If you have had CB’s version, you know it’s hard to eat just one.

Everyone in my family loves these and Husband Man even said they resemble his grandmother’s version. I’m calling that a win! Maybe one day her recipe will magically fall into my hands. A girl can dream, right? Until then, these will have to do!


Ingredients & Tips


  • Pre-made Biscuit/Pancake Mix: We LOVE the heck out of Bisquick, however, you can use another brand if you prefer.
  • Buttermilk: Do not leave this ingredient out! The buttermilk gives the biscuits a rich and full flavor.
  • Sugar: This ingredient adds a bit of sweetness to the biscuits. Don’t skip it!
  • Butter: We use unsalted due to baking purposes. You will need this for not only the actual mixing, but also to coat the biscuits after baking.
  • Flour: We use all purpose. Always make sure you have a bit more on hand for dusting and sticky purposes.
A basket filled with buttermilk biscuits.
Biscuit Q&A
Do I have to use Bisquick?

Nope. You can use whatever pre-made pancake/baking recipe you have. Pioneer and Jiffy are good brands. You can also use a homemade one if you wish.

We are not huge buttermilk consumers. Can I use something else instead?

You can make your own buttermilk substitution by combining 1 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar. Let it sit for around 10 minutes before adding to the recipe.

My dough came out sticky and it was difficult to work with. Is this normal?

Yes! I recommend having extra flour on hand to coat your hands and rolling pin to chase away the stickiness.

Two buttermilk biscuits on a white plate cut in half.

Copy Cat Cracker Barrel Buttermilk Biscuits

This recipe uses already made biscuit/pancake mix as a shortcut to making these yummy gems. Biscuit making is a hard job. Let this recipe take the difficulty away for a while. 
Makes 6 biscuits @ 286 calories for each one
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 6 biscuits
Calories Per Serving: 286

Ingredients

  • 2 and 1/4 cup pre-made biscuit/pancake mix
  • 2/3 cup buttermilk
  • 1 and 1/2 tsp. granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted for brushing
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour plus a little more for dusting and preventing stickiness

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 450 degrees and spray a glass baking dish with non stick spray.
  • In a glass mixing bowl, stir together the premade biscuit/pancake mix, buttermilk, and sugar. Mix until well combined.
  • Add in the 1 tablespoon of melted butter and mix again until well blended.
  • Sprinkle a flat surface with 1/4 cup of all purpose flour. Take the dough and knead it at least 20 times on the surface, using the flour to coat it.
  • Roll dough until it is at least 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick all around.  With a round biscuit cutter, cut them into pieces and place them on the dish.
  • Brush the tops with half of the 2 tablespoons of melted butter.
  • Bake for 8-10 minutes or until tops are light brown.  After baking, brush tops with the remaining melted butter.

Libby’s Notes

The dough may appear sticky once you start rolling it out and everything is mixed. Adding a tad bit more all purpose flour will help with this. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1biscuit | Calories: 286kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 603mg | Potassium: 109mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 229IU | Calcium: 111mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @cooknwithlibby or tag #cookwlib!

31 Comments

  1. thanks for your recipe, what is "Bisquick"? i live in saudi… i dont think we can get it hear, instead of that do you have any other ingrediant which i can replace for that?

    1. Thank you for this recipe. It was delicious! I made it exactly how you said. I will be making this from now on!

      1. You are very welcome 🙂 I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed it 😉

    2. Bisquik is a biscuit, pancake, waffle, dumpling, etc., premixed box of ingredients developed originally from what was used on trains to make baked goods. If you cannot get it where you are you can Google Bisquik substitute for a recipe to make your own.

  2. Thank you Redwolf 🙂 You beat me to the answer. Also Mohamed, if you can get Jiffy mix, try using that as a substitute as well. If not, then the recipe that Redwolf supplied should do the trick 🙂

  3. Anonymous says:

    I use pioneer buttermilk mix and also use buttermilk to mix up the dough like Libby. Works great.

  4. Anonymous says:

    This is the mix recipe that I use in place of Bisquick.
    9 cups sifted all-purpose flour
    10 cups sifted soft wheat or
    cake flour
    1/3 cup double-acting baking
    powder
    1 tablespoon salt
    1 teaspoon cream of tartar
    1/4 cup sugar
    2 cups shortening which does
    not require refrigeration
    The link is: http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/CFS/CFS-511.html
    I have used it measure for measure in any Bisquick recipe with success for many years.

    1. I'm glad I checked out the link you included! The first 2 ingredients are interchangeable… as in it's one or the other, not both! 9 cups sifted all-purpose flour OR 10 cups sifted soft wheat or cake flour! 🙂

  5. mmm, i really could go for a nice hot biscuit about now!

  6. I wonder if your husband mans grandmother used lard instead of butter or even Crisco – that is what my grandmama used. It is a southern thing – using lard I know. I know too that it is not good for us but sure makes tasty and flaky biscuits!

    1. It's possible she did use lard or Crisco. I should experiment with that one day 😉

  7. These look absolutely delicious, I am always looking for a good homemade biscuit recipe. Pinning now and can't wait to try them! I would love for you to link up this recipe at my Tasty Tuesday recipe link up party here!

  8. I just tried to make these and something is not right. I double checked that I added everything exact and in the exact way. My problem is that my dough was like thick cake batter after mixing bisquick (original not buttermilk biscuit mix) buttermilk (whole), and sugar. I had to add so much more bisquick to be able to knead it without it sticking all over everything. The recipe just states to use Bisquick. Do you know what may have caused this to happen?

    1. I’m sorry these didn’t work out for you 🙁 Everything you did sounds right on track. However, the dough does get pretty sticky and thick, but when it does, I just add a tad bit more all purpose flour to take some of the stickiness away when I start to roll it out. Hope this helps some. 🙂

      1. I have added this little tidbit to the recipe so hopefully it will help others if they come across this same issue.

  9. 5 stars
    This is our family’s favorite biscuit recipe!

  10. 5 stars
    I use buttermilk in recipes only (the taste by itself is awful). I went to the store and could find only quarts of buttermilk. Can a buttermilk substitute be used in place of the real (nasty tasting) stuff. Thanks.

    1. We don’t like the taste of plain buttermilk either. I just use it to cook and bake with. If you don’t feel like spending money on a pint, you can easily make your own by combining 1 cup of milk (whole or 2%) with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar. Let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, then use as directed in the recipe. It is noted that the texture of some recipes may be a little different due to this substitution, however, it normally does the trick 🙂 Let me know if you have anymore questions 🙂

  11. Kenzi Sashidharan says:

    I made these and followed the recipe exactly (except I used a metal baking dish instead of a glass one because I didn’t have a glass one) , but the biscuits didn’t rise at all. They’re more of a slightly fluffy cracker. Any ideas as the what went wrong?

  12. Do you put the biscuits touching in the glass pan or not touching? Like a 9×13 pan?? Thanks!

    1. You can use a 9×13 pan and the biscuits can be touching.

  13. Can you clarify the nutrition? The recipe says 6 servings at 86 calories. How? How many biscuits does this recipe actually make?

    1. Hi Rachel. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I went back and calculated the total calories and made the proper edits to the recipe card. A serving size is 1 biscuit at 286 calories. The recipe makes 6 biscuits total. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

  14. 3 stars
    These ended up being a tad sweeter than actual CB biscuits. Also, I think it’s just because I’m from the south but I prefer the taste of self rising flour biscuits to Bisquick. Not terrible, just not for me and my family.

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