Southern Style Fried Chicken Biscuit Sandwich

Though many prefer to sleep in on the weekends, every once in awhile I like to wake up early to prepare a special breakfast.  In this case, I woke up early on a Sunday morning to bake buttermilk biscuits and to fry some chicken for one of the most delicious breakfast sandwiches I've ever eaten.  This may seem like an arduous task for a lazy weekend morning, but these sandwiches are completely worth the work.  On a recent trip to Portland, Oregon, we visited the incomparable Pine State Biscuits and this sandwich is an adaptation of one we devoured there.  Huge, freshly baked buttermilk biscuits topped with juicy, fried chicken breast and smothered in honey, mustard and dill pickles.  This sandwich is really an amazing thing.  Completely worth the early alarm clock on a Sunday morning.

Southern Style Fried Chicken Biscuit Sandwich
Makes 2

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 cups buttermilk
freshly cracked black pepper
2 eggs
3-4 dashes of Tabasco hot sauce (or whatever you have)
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
peanut oil for frying
2 freshly baked buttermilk biscuits (see recipe below)
2 tsp butter
dill pickle chips
dijon mustard (you can also use a grainy mustard)
Tbsp (or more) honey


The night before you make your sandwiches, marinade your chicken.  In a large resealable plastic bag, add the buttermilk and a generous amount of freshly cracked black pepper.  On a cutting board, slice the chicken breast in half, running your knife parallel to the cutting board to create two thinner chicken breasts.  Add the chicken to the bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, prepare the chicken.  In a shallow bowl or baking dish, whisk together the eggs, hot sauce and a splash of water.  In another shallow dish, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Remove the chicken from the marinade and allow most of the buttermilk to drain off.  Dredge each thin breast in the egg mixture and then immediately coat in the flour mixture.  Repeat the process one more time with the egg and flour to make another layer of breading and place the breasts on a plate. Refrigerate chicken while you get your oil ready.

In a cast iron skillet or dutch oven, add two inches of peanut oil.  Using a candy or deep fry thermometer, heat the oil over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees.

Remove the chicken breasts from the refrigerator and carefully place them in the hot oil.  Fry for approximately 8 minutes or until they turn a deep golden brown and are cooked all the way through.  Remove cooked chicken to a paper towel-lined sheet pan or plate to drain and cool a bit.

Split a freshly baked buttermilk biscuit in half and spread the insides with a teaspoon of butter.  Place one of the chicken breasts on the lower half of the biscuit, spread it with a bit of mustard and top with a generous drizzle of honey. Top with 4 or five pickle slices and finish with the top half of the biscuit to make a sandwich.  Continue assembling the other sandwich and serve piping hot.

Buttermilk Biscuits
adapted from this recipe
makes 8 large biscuits

5 cups sifted all purpose flour (sift before your measure)
1 Tbsp cream of tarter
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 stick + 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, very cold and sliced into chunks
2 cups buttermilk, cold
1/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 500 degrees with a rack in the upper third position.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tarter, baking soda and kosher salt.  Add the cold butter and rub the mixture between your fingertips until the butter chunks are approximately 1/2 inch in size. Add the buttermilk to the flour mixture and gently stir with a rubber spatula until the dough just comes together.  At this point the dough may still be crumbly.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead 8-10 times, until the dough comes together.  If the dough seems a bit too dry at this point, add a few more teaspoons of cold buttermilk and continue kneading.

Form the dough into a flat disc and roll out to 3/4 of an inch thickness.  Gently pierce the dough with a fork at 1/2 inch intervals, covering the entire surface. Cut biscuits with a 2 1/2 to 3 inch round cutter and re-roll the scraps to make 8. Arrange on the baking sheet and refrigerate the biscuits for 10-20 minutes.

Brush the tops of the refrigerated biscuits with the heavy cream.  Bake biscuits for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown on top and baked all the way through.  Serve while still warm.

Brush the unbaked biscuits generously with heavy cream to make them gloriously golden and flakey.

Fry your chicken until golden.  A thermometer ensures that your oil is always at the optimum temperature. 

Honey is truly the secret star ingredient in these sandwiches.  I love to use orange blossom honey, but any will do.

Freshly baked biscuits.  Ideally, bake the biscuits while you're frying the chicken.

Sweet, salty, crunchy and delicious.