Cooking Biscuits With Callie's in Charleston - Dining With Debbie (2024)

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Callie’s Charleston Biscuits is the kind of success story we all love to hear about. In 2005 Carrie Morey convinced her long-time, successful catering mom Callie to turn her famous tender, buttery biscuits into a business. And, the rest as they say, it the stuff of legends. Today, Callie’s Biscuits can be found throughout the South and, indeed, in locations around the country. The best bet in Arkansas is Fresh Market.

Online orders for Callie’s Biscuits reached as high as 190,000 in December of last year. You might want to think about getting your orders in early, y’all.

Last week I joined with several other culinary enthusiasts on a trip to Charleston, SC organized by Amy Hannon of Euna Mae’s, a kitchen specialty store, in Springdale, Arkansas. One of our excursions while there was to Callie’s Biscuit House (headquarters/factory/office of Callie’s Charleston Biscuit)s where we got elbow deep, along with Carrie, in White Lily flour (Carrie says don’t bother using any other brand of flour.), butter and cream cheese (full fat, of course) in order to make the fluffiest, tastiest, butteriest (is that a word?) biscuits that truly did melt in our mouths.

Southerners swear by low-protein White Lily flour for their biscuits and HERE’S WHY.

Award-winning, hand-made Callie’s Biscuits have been featured in Food & Wine, Saveur,Real Simple,Southern Living,Garden and Gun, The New York Timesand onOprah, the Food Network,the Today Show and Martha Stewartjust to name a few.Among her biggest fans is Reese Witherspoon who not only featured Carrie and her biscuits on her blog, Draper James, but also served those mouthfuls of deliciousness at her wedding.

We each received a copy of Callie’s Biscuits and Southern Traditions, Carrie’s cookbook and narrative on entrepreneurship and life in the low country. I also picked up a t-shirt and several of Callie’s biscuit cutters from the small shop on site. The headquarters is located in a house which was part of a former naval base long since abandoned for its original purpose. Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit – grab-and-go biscuit restaurants in Charleston’s Upper King District, the Charleston City Market, and in Atlanta’s Virginia Highland neighborhood are among Carrie’s latest endeavors.

Even if you don’t live near Callie’s Biscuits, you can still enjoy them by ordering them and their other products online. Part of our group made a Cheddar and Chive version which was sooooo very good. We also sampled her Cheese Crackers which I highly recommend.And you can’t go wrong with the Cinnamon and Sugar variety — incredibly delicious!

Carrie offers some hints for making the best biscuits:

1. Measure out mix the dry ingredients into a very large bowl, one that will accommodate lots of dough mixing.
2. Add room temperature (not cold) butter and work it between your fingers until it resembles coarse corn meal.
3. Add in cream cheese, mixing with your fingers until only small chunks of cream cheese are left. The small chunks of cream cheese will help make lighter biscuits.
4. Form a well in the center and add in buttermilk. Lift flour from the outside edges and fold toward the center, mixing until a very soft dough is formed. Do not overwork.
5. Remove dough from bowl onto a well-floured board or counter. Using hands or a rolling pin, slightly roll dough to about 1-inch thick.
6. Starting at outside edge, cut biscuits using a sharp biscuit cutter pressing down and lifting straight up. Do not twist the cutter or you will seal the edge of the biscuits preventing them from rising as they should. Make the most of your first roll out of the dough as the second roll will be slightly different in texture.
7. Place biscuits as close together as you can on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush the tops with melted butter prior to baking.If space remains in the pan, make a snake of excess dough and press it next to the biscuits so they will not spread out in the pan.

Charleston seems to be the hub of biscuit making for me. You may recall my encounter with Shirley Corriher,writer, author, biochemist, teacher and lecturer who regularly appeared on The Food Network. I’m still starstruck, y’all. That lady knows a thing or two about biscuit making!

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