Biscuits and gravy

Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Cream Gravy

American biscuits are tall, flaky, buttery scones. Split while warm and covered with a peppery gravy of sausage, flour and milk, they are a Southern breakfast that holds you till the afternoon.

Weekend breakfast is a leisurely meal in the United States.

One recipe grates 115 g of frozen butter into 315 g of flour, adds 300 ml of buttermilk, folds the dough, cuts 6 cm rounds and bakes them at 220°C for 16 to 18 minutes. The other cuts cold butter into 250 g of flour and bakes at 200°C for 15 to 20 minutes.

Ingredients

For the biscuits

  • 315 g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp caster sugar
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 115 g frozen salted butter
  • 300 ml buttermilk, plus a little for brushing

For the gravy

  • 450 g pork sausage meat
  • 30 g plain flour
  • 480 ml whole milk
  • Fine sea salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Mix the dry ingredients Line a baking tray with baking paper. Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl. Grate in the frozen butter using the large holes of a box grater and toss it through quickly.
  2. Make the dough Stir in 240 ml of the buttermilk until a shaggy dough forms, adding a little more if it is dry. Knead very lightly on a floured surface until just combined.
  3. Fold and cut Roll the dough to 1.5 cm thick, fold it in thirds like a letter and press out to 2.5 cm. Cut 6 cm rounds, re-rolling the scraps gently. Place them 2.5 cm apart on the tray and chill while the oven heats to 220°C.
  4. Bake Brush the tops with a little buttermilk and bake for 16 to 18 minutes, until golden.
  5. Make the gravy Meanwhile brown the sausage meat in a large pan, breaking it up, until cooked through with no pink. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly stir in the milk and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes until thick. Season well with salt and plenty of pepper.
  6. Serve Split the warm biscuits and cover them with the gravy.

Food safety

Cook the sausage meat until cooked through, with no pink. Cool leftover gravy quickly and reheat until piping hot.

Keep the butter cold; it makes the layers.

Do not twist the cutter, or the biscuits will not rise.

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