The first thing people ask me when they find out I love to cook is “what is the best meal you can cook” or “what is your favorite meal to make”, which is sort of a tough question. However, if I had to choose, I think it would be these biscuits and gravy. But let me explain…
These maple cream flaky biscuits are packed with buttery flakes that rip apart and get beautifully golden brown on the outside when they bake. Draped in a creamy gravy that sticks to your ribs and comforts you from the first bite you take. I really couldn’t think of a better breakfast to describe not only the way I cook but the style of cooking I love to use.
I think the best thing about these biscuits is the maple cream that I use to coat the biscuits before they go in the oven. Then immediately brush when they have finished cooking as well. I started doing this when I went to a southern kitchen in Tennessee that used maple butter to spread on the biscuits they served on the table with breakfast. Fast forward a few years later, I needed something to coat the biscuits before baking so that they get golden brown in the oven. Most recipes call for heavy cream and granulated sugar, but i figured to mix things up I would mix in maple syrup and salt instead. And I am so happy I did!
The biscuits turn out perfectly golden on top and the cream gives them the best maple flavor. The maple even gives the biscuits a pancake taste and I am not mad about it. Best of both worlds if you ask me. I love the maple cream so much, before serving, I will break the biscuit in half and brush a bit more on before smothering it in the gravy.
One thing you will notice is this recipe is quite large. It is meant to feed a crowd. Typically when I make this recipe I get about 18-20 biscuits out of it. If that is too much, you can easily half the recipe and it works just as well. I like to make a big batch at a time because B’s and G’s for us is a special occasion meal. Meaning we only make it a few times a year since it isn’t the healthiest, so when we do, we choose to make it when friends are in town or we have a lot of people over for breakfast. And while I always plan on having leftovers the next day, we always seem to get through it all before that is an option.
One of the best things about B’s and G’s is that you can whip this up fairly quick. I like to make the biscuits a day ahead when I know we are having them and then freeze them. All you have to do is take them out of the freezer the next morning, coat them with some maple cream and pop them in the oven for 20 minutes. They turn out so flaky each time and puff up so big in the process.
I think one of the things we associate Biscuits and Gravy with is the south. Its a staple of southern food and one of the most perfected dishes you will find when you travel south today. I lived in Tennessee for a short stint and it was probably the first time I had biscuits and gravy and honestly, I fell in love. It is hands down one of my favorite meals to this day and I would say the most comforting meals you could have. I love the way it reminds me of Tennessee, all the people I met and all of the Southern experiences I had when I lived there. The south is truly a magical place. I dream of hiking the Tennessee mountains all the time.
However, there is a bit more history to B’s and G’s that I find to be pretty interesting. They were brought over from early European settlers, most like to be of French origin since the gravy uses the standard French Roux. A roux is the combination of a fat, flour and cream/milk. In this recipe, it uses the fat from the sausage and butter then sprinkles flour on top to make the roux then milk to create the beautiful thick liquid we know to be gravy. However, the recipe didn’t really become too popular until the American Revolutionary war when food was of short supply and people had to start stretching what ingredients they did have out so that they lasted longer. When you think about it, the ingredients that go into biscuits and gravy are so minimal in cost it makes sense. And for how much they make it is definitely a meal that is worth the cost!
Fast forward to now, we see B’s & G’s in so many brunch restaurants for the exact same reason. You get so much food for such a small price that restaurants can get such a great ROI on the ingredients it takes to make them.
ANYWAYS!
Enough with the history of B’s and G’s, lets get to the good stuff…
This recipe is fairly easy to throw together and I always start by making the biscuits since the time they take to bake in the oven is the perfect amount of time to make the gravy. There are a few key steps to making biscuits that I think are important:
- Keep the butter as cold as possible when you make the biscuits. This is important that the butter is cold because the minute it hits the oven, the butter begins to melt and at the same time, the water content in the butter begins to evaporate and that’s what makes biscuits super flaky and super puffed up. If you use warm butter, it will incorporate too much in the dough before it hits the oven and your biscuits will turn out super dense and super flat.
- Baking soda and powder. I don’t know if you know the difference between the two, but it took me a solid 29 years of life before I finally figured it out. The main difference is baking soda requires an acid and a liquid to activate, while baking powder contains an acid so it only needs a liquid to activate. That’s why you typically see an acid listed in the ingredients when you see baking soda on an ingredient list. Here it is our buttermilk that is used to activate the soda. Essentially, I use baking soda in a lot of recipes that require something to rise a bit in the oven. It begins to activate as soon as the liquid and acid hit the soda. So if your ingredients are mixed and then sit out on the counter before baking, this can be detrimental to the bake as it will rise too early. However, baking powder wont rise until it hits the oven and the heat adds a chemical reaction to it. Therefore, I use both baking soda and baking powder together so that they biscuits can both rise in and out of the oven without losing their flakiness and getting dense. You can view the powder as the reason why you are able to make the dough ahead of time even though there is baking soda in the recipe.
- That brings me to buttermilk. The reason we just listed above is the reason why it is important. There is no other acid in this recipe that will activate the baking soda, so it is pretty important to have in order to get the right rise out of your biscuits. If you don’t have any buttermilk, no worries! I typically don’t either, but what I do always have is milk and lemons. I just squeeze the juice of a lemon into the correct measurement of milk and let it sit. You will see the milk begin to curdle and turn into buttermilk. The same goes for just adding a tablespoon of vinegar if you don’t have any lemons.
So to make this post short and sweet, I wouldn’t say I have a signature dish, but what I do have is a love for cooking southern food. One of those just so happen to be these B’s and G’s. If I do go down in history for any of these recipes you find on this page, I wouldn’t mind if its this one!
Maple Cream Flaky Biscuits and Gravy
Ingredients
Maple Cream
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp salt
Biscuits
- 2 sticks very cold butter
- 6 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 cups buttermilk
Sausage gravy
- 2 lbs breakfast sausage (I go with the OG Bob Evans)
- 1 stick (8 tbsp) butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 6 cups whole milk
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp salt
- optional: 1 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Start by making the maple cream. In a small bowl, whisk the heavy cream, maple syrup and salt until incorporated. Set aside.
- preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- Next make the biscuits. I start by cubing all of the butter so it is in small chunks. This helps blend the butter and flour later. Add two tablespoons of flour to the butter and toss to coat the butter. Place the cubes butter in the freezer until ready to use.
- Next in a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Mix until combined. Then add in the frozen cubes butter. Using a pastry blender (you can also use your hands or a food processor) mix the butter into the flour mixture until you get the texture of coarse sand. I’ve also heard concrete to describe what this should feel like once mixed. Basically you want to have small chunks of butter throughout the mixture so that the butter isn’t completely incorporated.
- Shake the buttermilk so you get a few bubbles, then pour it into the butter flour mixture. Start to combine with a fork until the dough gets sticky. Then transfer the dough to a floured surface. Flour your hands and work the dough into a ball. Try not to overwork the dough or the biscuits will be super dense.
- Press the dough with the palms of your hands until you have a flat circle about 1.5 inches high. Using a biscuit cutter or the lid of a mason jar, stamp out biscuits from the dough. Transfer to a baking sheet fitted with a silo at or lined with parchment paper.
- Brush the biscuits with the maple cream mixture then bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
- Make the sausage gravy by first adding the breakfast sausage to a large cast iron skillet or a pot larger than 4 quarts, over medium heat. Brown the sausage about 4-5 minutes until cooked all the way through and fat is starting to render. Now add the butter and let it melt. Coating the sausage. Once the butter is melted, sprinkle the top with flour and coat the sausage. This is your roux. You’ll notice the sausage mixture starts to resemble a paste.
- Add the milk stirring so the contents on the bottom of the pan don’t burn. Turn the heat a bit higher so it’s over medium-high heat. Continue stirring until the gravy starts to thicken. This should take about 10 minutes. When the gravy starts to coat the back of a wooden spoon, add the salt, pepper and pepper flakes. Remove from the heat.
- To assemble start by opening a biscuit and brushing some extra maple cream on top. Then top your biscuit with some sausage gravy. This is where I add a bit of hot sauce. Then serve.
