Callie’s Hot Little Biscuits: A Make-At-Home Treat

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I visited Charleston for the first time this past August and was really excited to indulge in some good ol’ southern style biscuits while there. Since I love researching eateries before vacationing in a new city, I quickly discovered that Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit was a beloved staple and immediately made plans to visit one of their cafes before leaving South Carolina.

I may be the luckiest girl in the world, because on my first morning in town, I discovered an array of Callie’s Hot Little Biscuits in the dining room of our quaint bed & breakfast! I was thrilled since I got to enjoy some mini sausage biscuits for the next few mornings. On my last afternoon in town, I stopped by the Charleston City Market location and purchased a hot little biscuit with blackberry jam, a refreshing mint iced tea, and a bag of buttermilk biscuit mix as a souvenir for my boyfriend. And although I typically bake everything from scratch, this seemed like the perfect gift. Two months later, I had a hankering for biscuits, woke up early, and baked up a dozen of these tasty treats for him. Suffice it to say, it was a purchase well made!

HERE IS THE ACTUAL HOT LITTLE BISCUIT MIX THAT I BOUGHT IN CHARLESTON 🙂

AND HERE ARE THE PRINTED INSTRUCTIONS, INGREDIENTS, & TOOLS REQUIRED TO PREPARE CALLIE’S FAMOUS BUTTERMILK BISCUITS AT HOME.

HERE ARE THE EXACT INGREDIENTS THAT I DECIDED TO USE

• Callie’s Buttermilk Biscuit Mix [ 1 Bag ] 
• Grass-Fed Salted Butter [ 4 Tablespoons Cubed + 2 Tablespoons Melted ]
• Whipped Cream Cheese [ 1/4 Cup – Give or Take ]
• Organic Half & Half [ 3/4 Cup ]
• White Vinegar [ 1 Tablespoon ] 
• Organic Whole Wheat Flour [ A Good Sprinkling ]

TOOLS

• Counter Space / Large Cutting Board / Baking Mat
• Biscuit Cutter / Small Cup / Bench Scraper / Butter Knife
• Large Baking Sheet
• Parchment Paper
• Mixing Bowl
• Tablespoon
• Rolling Pin
• Oven

EXTRAS

• Your Favorite Butter
• Your Favorite Jam, Jelly, or Preserve

YIELD

This recipe makes 12 biscuits.

Step One

Have fun! 

Step Two

Preheat your oven to 400° Fahrenheit.

Step Three

Empty the entire bag of Callie’s Biscuit Mix into a large bowl.

PLEASE NOTE: The instructions say to use 2 cups of mix, but for some reason I completely missed that piece of information and didn’t realize my error until after I had already started. If you’re a purist, however, stick to the original instructions printed on the bag and just ignore my recipe below 😉 If you have extra flour to dust over your work surface and rolling pin – I suggest using the whole bag of mix as my slightly altered version of this recipe created some dynamite biscuits!! The choice is yours my friend 🙂

Step Four

Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into 3/4 cup of half & half or milk. If you don’t have white vinegar, fresh lemon juice works just as well. Stir to combine, and leave the mixture on the counter to sit. In five or so minutes, you’ll have homemade buttermilk!

FUN FACT: Since buttermilk is so simple to create, I’ve never found the need to purchase a container. And because I always have half & half in the fridge and white vinegar and/or lemons in the pantry, the easy task of combining an acid with dairy is always my go-to preference whenever I need the tangy quality of buttermilk while cooking.

Step Five

Cube 4 tablespoons of salted butter, and place the small chunks into the bowl of biscuit mix. Use your hands to incorporate the butter into the flour until it feels like wet sand. Once the butter is worked in, add the cream cheese until it’s also properly combined. The mix should now feel like slightly moister sand. And just in case you were curious – I chose to use whipped cream cheese as opposed to the standard in order to give the biscuits a lighter and airier consistency.

QUICK TIP: If you don’t want to get your hands dirty – you can use the pulse feature on a food processor. You can also use a large serving fork or a pastry blender (if you’re an avid baker) to break up the butter and cream cheese. I chose the fork method when I made this particular batch of biscuits. I’ve used various mixing methods over the years and find that my biscuits always come out fluffy and flaky regardless. At the end of the day, choose whatever tool works best for you.

Step Six

Make a shallow well in the center of the biscuit mix, and pour in your homemade buttermilk. Gently stir everything together until you have a wet, sticky dough. Be careful not to overmix in order to keep your biscuits nice and flaky.

Step Seven

Before removing your biscuit dough from the bowl, sprinkle your work surface and rolling pin with some flour in order to avoid a sticky mess.

Once the dough is on the floured surface, it’s time to roll. The instructions say to roll out the dough until it’s 1 to 2 inches thick. I decided to roll my dough to about 1 inch thick in order to achieve a wider biscuit.

SOMETHING WORTH MENTIONING: The Callie’s biscuits that I ate in Charleston were on the smaller and thicker side which means that the business probably rolls out their dough to 2 inches thick in order to create their famous Hot Little Biscuits.

Step Eight

Instead of using a biscuit cutter or cup, I decided to quickly shape the rolled out dough into a rectangle. I then cut out my twelve biscuits with the back of the dinner knife that I used earlier to cube my butter.

Step Nine

Place your cut biscuits onto a parchment lined baking sheet. The instructions recommend that they touch, hence the reason I have them so close together on the pan. Top the biscuits with 2 tablespoons of melted butter before placing them into the oven.

Step Ten

Bake your biscuits for 16 minutes and per the instructions, rotate the pan halfway through the process – which I was sure to do in order to achieve an even cook.

Step Eleven

Remove the biscuits from the oven, gently separate them, and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes if you can manage not to eat one before then 😉

Step Twelve

Enjoy as is or split open one of your freshly baked biscuits and adorn it with some tasty accoutrements!

My family and I decided on some double cream brie & raspberry jam the morning I made Callie’s biscuits. The sweet and savory combination paired perfectly with the warm, flaky quick bread. The next day I decided to make biscuits and gravy for breakfast with the addition of a runny egg and some fresh thyme from the garden! After that – we enjoyed the remaining biscuits as is, with a bit of salted butter, and also topped with some mango habanero jam 🙂 Life just doesn’t get much better than that in my humble opinion.

Use the code SPRINGFORCALLIES to receive 15% OFF any purchase
made on the Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit website
from now until May 31, 2023.

Happy Eating!