When it comes to things that are country, biscuits and sausage gravy is one of them. The unique thing about this recipe are the biscuits, which are a Southern staple and the large size resembles the size of a cat’s head hence, cat head biscuits. The biscuits are large, light, and fluffy, and the sausage gravy uses a leaner version of breakfast sausage so the gravy is delicious and not greasy. Biscuits can be made the night before and reheated making breakfast quick and easy. Great for Sunday morning breakfast or for the holidays. This recipe is sure to become a favorite. Here’s how to make it:
Start by preheating the oven to 425 degrees and mix up all your dry ingredients which is, 1 1/2 cups of cake flour (such as Silk), 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (such as King Arthur), 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon baking powder (aluminum free).
Next, measure out 1 1/4 cups buttermilk (if you do not have butter milk place 1 1/4 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar into regular or lactose free milk and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes). Measure out 4 tablespoons of shortening and 1 stick of butter cut up into 1/2 inch pieces, place on a plate and put in the frig for a few minutes to keep it very cold.
Once butter and shortening are cold, break the shortening into small pieces and drop into the flour along with all the cut up butter.
Make sure your hands are very cold, and crumble the butter into the flour using your hands until the flour resembles course bread crumbs. It’s ok if there are a few pieces of butter in there, it helps the biscuits to rise.
Once it looks like course bread crumbs, stir in the buttermilk with a spoon but be sure not to over mix the dough, just mix until combined.
At this point, you can use a 1/2 cup measure to scoop the dough out in clumps onto an air filled baking sheet or a parchment lined baking sheet. I choose to turn it out onto a floured surface and with my hands, gently spread the dough out to a 1/2 inch thick where a large cutter, jar, or container can be used to cut out the biscuits. I used a 4 inch plastic container from the olive bar at my grocery store. If you choose to cut out the biscuits, just press straight down without twisting the cutter. The twisting motion tends to seal the edges which keeps them from rising whereas pressing straight down with a floured cutter helps to allow more rising.
This recipe makes 6 biscuits if you use the 1/2 cup scoop method or a 3 inch cutter to cut them out. I used a 4 inch container to cut them out (the size of my cat’s head), so it made 5 biscuits. I used an air filled baking sheet.
Once you have all your biscuits on the baking sheet, bake at 425 for 20 -25 minutes until golden brown.
While the biscuits bake, crumble the sausage into a large nonstick pan. I like to use Smithfield or Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage found in the frozen food section because they use premium ingredients and there is more meat and less fat, but still enough to make the gravy.
Cook the sausage over medium high heat until well browned, do not drain the fat. Add 3 tablespoons of flour sprinkled over the browned sausage and mix in well, and continue cooking.
Once flour is well incorporated, add 1 1/2 cups of milk to the sausage and bring to a boil, and continue to boil for 1 minute until thickened.
If the gravy gets too thick, add more milk until desired consistency is reached. Season with salt and pepper.
When biscuits are golden brown, remove from the oven and gently place biscuits on a wire rack to cool using a wide spatula because they are very delicate. The inside is light, fluffy, and delicate.
The biscuits can be served whole or cut in half and topped with sausage gravy. They can also be served along side scrambled eggs. Enjoy and happy cooking!
Pep Time: 30 -40 minutes Cooking Time: 20 -25 minutes
Difficulty: Easy Servings: 4-6
Ingredients:
For the cat head biscuits:
1 1/2 cups cake flour (such as Silk)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (such as King Arthur)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder (aluminum free)
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons of shortening
1 stick of very cold butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces
For the sausage gravy:
1 lb. chub of premium sausage such as Smithfield or Jimmy Dean
3 tablespoons of flour
1 1/2 cups of milk (regular or lactose free)
salt and pepper