Why Chick-Fil-A's Biscuits Are So Delicious

People who love Chick-fil-A really, really love Chick-fil-A. It's almost a way of life, and whether you prefer their chicken sandwiches or their chicken nuggets, everyone can agree that their biscuits are as close to heavenly as we're likely to get while still on earth. 

They're just the right amount of fluffy and flaky, and they're the kind of buttery that brings the flavor but not that greasy, heavy feeling that comes with something that's been drenched in butter. They're perfect as a sandwich or, let's be honest: they'd be perfect right out of the oven and right into a bucket to take home, too. 

Chick-fil-A has had a long time to perfect their biscuits. They started making them in 1986, and they've made a lot of them. In 2018 alone, they sold 133 million of these delicious, buttery biscuits, and if that seems like a lot, consider this: the people of Atlanta bought 20.3 million just by themselves! Fans already know that each biscuit is handmade, but what else goes into making these so gosh darn good? Quite a bit!

Chick-fil-A uses something akin to a secret ingredient, but it turns out that it's not so secret after all... at least, not if you're from the south. 

The chain's culinary expert, Wing Lau, has spilled the beans on some of the secrets behind their biscuits (via Southern Living). And part of it is in the flour. They only use White Lily flour, and it turns out that not only is flour a big deal, but White Lily is perfect for biscuits.

According to Southern Kitchen, White Lily flour is the go-to for any southern baker or chef who's serious about their biscuits. That's because it's made from soft winter wheat, and that particular type of wheat has a very low gluten and protein content. When flour is introduced to water and the dough is kneaded, it's the gluten that starts to form bread's distinctive texture and elasticity. By using this particular flour that's super low in gluten, there's not that much of a reaction going on. That means the biscuits aren't going to turn out as tough or dense, and you'll get a lighter biscuit coming out of the oven. 

There's a reason that generations of bakers have used it, and here's a tip for biscuit-makers at home trying to replicate Chick-fil-A. If you can't get White Lily, use half self-rising flour and half cake flour — you'll get a similar effect. You're welcome!

Anyone who's baked knows how difficult mixing can be. You don't want to under-mix something and fail at completely incorporating all your ingredients, but you don't want to over-mix something, either. That's why Culinary Expert Wing Lau says (via Southern Living) says they mix their dough in a commercial mixer for a very precise amount of time: just 18 seconds. 

That doesn't seem like nearly enough time, but there's a lesson in here for everyone who's trying to make Chick-fil-A's biscuits at home. Food 52 says there are a few things that happen when you over-mix. First, you're going to introduce too much air into your dough, and that's going to make it highly likely your biscuits will collapse in the oven instead of rise. 

Secondly, you're going to do two things that will each contribute to tough, dense biscuits: you'll end up encouraging the development of too much gluten, and you're going to warm up the butter — and that's a bad idea for the same reasons you don't want to use warm water. Mixing the right amount of time is crucial to getting biscuits to rise and to be the right density and flakiness, and 18 seconds works perfectly for Chick-fil-A and the amount of ingredients in each batch.

Following a recipe precisely is important, especially when you're baking. It's not like other types of cooking where you have more leeway to experiment, and when it comes to biscuits, there's one part that's highly variable: the flour you add to keep the dough from sticking when you roll it out. 

According to Chick-fil-A bakers, they're careful to add just a light dusting of flour. It's so light, in fact, that some refer to it as a "Georgia snow." It's just enough to keep the dough from sticking the few times it's handled and rolled, and using too much flour during this stage is actually one of the common ways a baker might sabotage their baked goods without even realizing they're doing it. 

Adding too much flour will change the ratios of the recipe, and Southern Kitchen says that's going to make biscuits that are dry, tough, and doughy — biscuits that will crumble instead of flake. Chick-fil-A bakers avoid the problem by spreading their extra flour with a sieve, instead of just tossing a handful on their workspace. And that's a tip you can use in your own kitchen.

Keeping the dough cool is of the utmost importance, and here's another little trick Chick-fil-A uses to get those perfect biscuits. They use tools, not their hands. 

When they're taking the dough out of the mixing bowl, they do it with metal spatulas. It's folded with metal spatulas, and the rounds of dough are transferred to the baking tray on a metal spatula. 

That all keeps the dough as cold as possible before it's put into the oven, as it's not being warmed by hands — and Southern Living says that warming the dough with your hands is one of the biggest, most common mistakes people make. Using tools might mean more dishes, but it's just one more way they're making sure they're putting the best thing possible into the oven, and that's the only way you'll get the best biscuits possible coming out. What's a few more dishes to do when breakfast service winds down?

A big part of what makes a good biscuit is texture, but taste is important, too. Anyone who has enjoyed a Chick-fil-A biscuit knows there's just a hint of sweetness in there, and that's what makes it truly special. Without that bit of sweetness it might be easy for it to become one-dimensional, no matter how light and flaky it is. Fortunately, they've included something of a secret ingredient.

But, what is it? A look at the ingredient list doesn't really give too many hints. There's a ton of sugar in those biscuits (it's the third ingredient), but baked goods usually have sugar. There are some more cryptic ingredients, like "natural flavor," but that still doesn't clear anything up. 

Plenty of enterprising bakers have tried to crack the secret, and many copycat recipes add honey to try to get that same signature sweetness. Do any of them come close? Not really, but they'll do on a Sunday.