For Truly Southern Biscuits, Use This Flour

There's nothing quite like a warm, buttery, flaky biscuit to accompany a hearty meal, and no one knows how to do biscuits better than Southerners. That whole stereotype about Southern-style biscuits reigning supreme in the biscuit world? It's definitely true, but not just by some illogical luck of the draw — it boils down to science or, more specifically, to ingredients used. We spoke to Joy Wilson, the pro baker and cookbook author behind Joy The Baker, to inquire about the absolute best flour for Southern-style biscuits, which she said "hands down" is White Lily self-rising flour.

"White Lily is the Southern belle of biscuit flour," Wilson says, voicing the same sentiment many Southern bakers preach: that flour is the ingredient that makes Southern-style biscuits taste better. It might be hard to believe that the difference between a mediocre biscuit and an award-winning biscuit can come down to something so minuscule, but bakers like Wilson know that "if you grew up in the South, there's probably a bag [of White Lily] in your pantry right now."

What makes the White Lily brand so special? "It's made from soft winter wheat and has a lower protein content than standard all-purpose flours," Wilson explains, "which means extra tender biscuits with that signature puff." Think Chick-fil-A- or Cracker Barrel-style biscuits, but made in the comfort of your own kitchen from upstate New York or rural North Dakota.

According to the brand's website, White Lily flours are created from "100% soft red winter wheat." It only uses the purest part of the wheat, making it a patent flour. This specific wheat has low gluten and a low protein content, only about 9%, so it's perfect for creating light, fluffy pastries. It's also sifted into an incredibly fine powder, advertising the extra step that bakers save from picking up a sifter right on the packaging. Wilson notes that White Lily's specific ingredients allow your biscuits to have "that light, airy texture and just enough structure to split open and slather with butter and jam," which is why self-rising flours like White Lily became a Southern pantry staple.

The White Lily brand has been a baker's best friend since its invention in 1883, milled in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, for over 120 years before the facility shut down. The flour's fame spread at first by word of mouth, with family recipes passed to the next generation. Despite the brand's popularity, you won't find it everywhere across the country. Not to worry, because if you're in a bind while whipping up some fluffy Southern biscuits, Wilson says you can just "use a blend of cake flour and all-purpose with baking powder and salt" to mimic the effect — though nothing comes close to the real thing.