Hardee’s Biscuits

This Hardees Biscuit recipe is so easy to make. It only requires six ingredients: flour, sugar, shortening, salt, baking powder, and of course, buttermilk! Plus it’s ready in no time!

Copycat Hardees Biscuit

Hardees biscuits are buttermilk biscuits served by the famous restaurant chain. These biscuits are quick bread similar to scones but with a fluffy and flaky texture.

And they’re truely perfect for our family breakfasts or brunches! I usually make a big batch, I freeze them and take them out whenever we’re having brunch.

Thanks to the folding technique and the shortening, these biscuits have beautiful flaky layers, with a light and fluffy texture. Plus, the ingredients complement each other so perfectly, making soft biscuits on the inside but crispy on the outside. Very addictive!

(*On the pics, it looks like I burned the biscuits. I did not. My photos came out with dark colors, trying to fix this!)

Be sure to follow my tips below to reproduce the same biscuits!

Hardee’s Biscuits Ingredients

For perfect Hardees biscuits, you’ll need a handful of simple ingredients:

• Flour: All-purpose flour gives the biscuits structure. If you want to use self-rising flour, keep the same quantity of flour and skip the baking powder.


• Buttermilk: Buttermilk adds acidity that gives the biscuits a subtle tangy taste and helps them to rise thanks to its action on leavening agents.


• Baking powder: Baking powder acts as a leavener too to make the biscuits rise.


• Sugar and salt: Sugar and salt enhance the overall flavor.


• Shortening: Shortening is made only with fat, unlike butter. This structure will shorten the gluten strands (hence its name) creating tender and flaky biscuits.

How to Make Hardee’s Biscuits

Preparing The Dough

Preheat the oven to 450°F degrees.

Mix the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl until well combined.

Add the cold shortening to the flour mixture. Mix with your fingers or a spatula until you get a sandy texture.

Make a well and pour the cold buttermilk.

Mix wet and dry ingredients with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Stir until well combined. However, the dough shouldn’t be smooth but sticky. Make sure it keeps a sandy texture with pockets of fat here and there.

Place your dough on a lightly floured countertop.

Folding The Dough

Roll out the dough using a rolling pin and form a 10 – 11 inch rectangle.

Fold the top end towards the center of the dough. Then fold the lower end over the upper end just like you would with a letter.

Turn the dough horizontally, and roll it out again to get a new rectangle. Repeat the folding process 3 to 4 times to obtain beautiful layers.

Finish by forming a 10 x 5-inch rectangle about 1 inch thick.

Cutting The Biscuits

Using a cookie cutter, cut out 6 to 8 biscuits from your dough or as many biscuits as you can. Use the excessive dough straps to form more biscuits. Be careful not to twist the cookie cutter, as this will seal the edges and prevent the biscuits from rising up.

Arrange the biscuits on a baking sheet, making sure they touch each other. This will help them to rise.

Baking And Brushing The Biscuits

Bake for 15 minutes at a very high temperature. Meanwhile, melt the butter and add the brown sugar.

Once your Hardees biscuits have a nice light golden brown color, remove them from the oven. Brush with the melted butter/brown sugar mixture.

Serve with a blueberry topping, gravy or these delicious Grandma Browns Baked Beans!

Tips For Avoiding Dense & Flat Hardees Biscuits

• To obtain perfect flaky layers, use very cold ingredients. Cold fat doesn’t get fully incorporated into the dough and creates pockets of steam and fat. It releases steam when it melts during cooking, which helps form the different layers. You’ll get very dense and tough biscuits if the shortening is too hot.


• Use a cookie cutter with sharp edges. You can use a glass if you don’t have cookie cutters. Simply cut the biscuit dough around the glass with a knife. If your biscuits are not cut properly, you will end up with sealed edges. And your biscuits won’t rise well.


• Follow the proportions of flour and fat strictly. If you double or triple the quantities, make sure you always have ½ cup of the fat for 2 cups of flour. If you incorporate more fat, the texture of the cookies will be softer – no problem. But too little fat will result in tough and dense biscuits.
  


• Space the biscuits 5 minutes before the end of cooking. Arranging the biscuits close to each other on the baking sheet has the advantage of making them rise high and well. The downside is that the center of the biscuits may not cook well. If at the end of cooking, the biscuits are undercooked at the center, space them 1 inch apart from each other and bake for additional 5 minutes.
  


• Place the dough in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes if your dough warms up or becomes too soft.
  

How To Substitute Buttermilk?

If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, don’t worry. You can easily re-create buttermilk with simple pantry ingredients.

There are several ways to substitute buttermilk: a mix of milk and vinegar or lemon juice, sour cream, or greek yogurt thinned with water or milk.

For one cup of buttermilk substitute, mix:


• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice + milk to the 1-cup line. Let sit for 10 minutes, then stir.


• 1 tablespoon of white vinegar + enough milk to make a cup. Let sit for 10 minutes as well and stir to combine.


• ¾ cup of sour cream with ¼ cup of water or milk.


• ¾ cup of greek yogurt with ¼ cup of water or milk.

Since I sometimes have issues finding buttermilk in France (depending on the store), I tried the two first options several times. The taste was quite similar in terms of acidity. And I could have delicious biscuits!

Can You Freeze Hardees Biscuits?

Yes, absolutely,  you can freeze hardees biscuits.

Since this recipe gives a big batch of 8 biscuits (or more, depending on your cookie cutters’ size), it’s perfect for making ahead and freezing. Then you can keep them in the freezer for 2-3 months.

When I’m in the mood for an American breakfast, I take one from the freezer, defrost, cut it in half, and pop it in my toaster.

Another way to make them ahead is to prepare the dough as directed above. Once you’re done cutting the biscuits, freeze them on a baking sheet. Once completely frozen, take them out from the freezer, and store them in a freezer bag for three months.

Defrost the dough in the fridge (not on your countertop) and bake as directed.

Does Hardees Still Have Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits?

Unfortunately, not. Hardees biscuits stopped proposing cinnamon raisin biscuits in 2002.

Have You Tried This Copycat Recipe?
Let me know in the comments section what you think of my recipe! Your feedback is valuable to me ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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