Fried chicken biscuit
Photo: Gatorfan252525 · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

The biscuit belongs to the whole South, but the fried-chicken-in-a-biscuit breakfast went from gas-station secret to city-centre staple across Tennessee in the 2010s, as biscuit houses built entire menus on the format. Chattanooga's downtown adopters serve it with pepper jelly or a shot of maple, and the queue on Broad Street on a Saturday morning is its own endorsement. It works because the biscuit is a fat-lined pastry, not bread, and fights the crust on equal terms.

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Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield Makes 6 biscuitsHands-on 40 minTotal 1 hr 10 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 350g plain flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 120g cold butter, cubed
  • 280ml cold buttermilk
  • 3 chicken breast halves, butterflied
  • Seasoned flour from the fried chicken recipe
  • Oil for frying
  • Honey or pepper jelly

Method

  1. Rub the cold butter into the flour, baking powder and salt until pea-sized, add the buttermilk and fold, do not knead, into a shaggy dough.
  2. Pat out 3cm thick, fold in three, pat again, and cut 6 tall rounds. Bake at 220C for 14 to 16 minutes until risen and gold.
  3. Brine the chicken pieces briefly in buttermilk, dredge in seasoned flour and fry at 170C for 6 to 8 minutes until crisp and cooked.
  4. Split the hot biscuits and load each with a piece of fried chicken.
  5. Finish with honey or pepper jelly and press the lid on so it soaks slightly into the crumb.

Tip from the editors. Grate frozen butter into the flour if the rubbing intimidates; the goal is visible fat streaks, which become the biscuit's layers.

Where to eat fried chicken biscuit

Fried chicken biscuit in Chattanooga

Maple Street Biscuit Company ★ 4.0

$ $7-12BreakfastBiscuit houseDowntown

Maple Street Biscuit Company hands over flaky biscuit stacks and shots of maple at 407 Broad Street, downtown Chattanooga's fast brunch fix.

OrderA fried chicken biscuit with house-made pepper jelly.

TipDoors close at 14:00 weekdays and 15:00 weekends; it is a breakfast-and-lunch operation, not a dinner stop.

Directions

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