Biscuits and gravy is about as close to perfect as breakfast gets.

Quick answer Biscuits: 2 cups flour, baking powder, a little soda and salt, cold butter worked in, 3/4 cup buttermilk; pat, fold, cut, and bake at 450°F about 15 minutes. Gravy: brown 1 pound of bulk sausage, stir 1/4 cup flour into the drippings, whisk in 2 cups of milk, simmer until thick, and pepper it generously. Makes about 8 biscuits; serves 4.
Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
Photo: jeffreyw / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Ingredients

  • Biscuits: 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for dusting
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
  • 6 to 7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, sliced
  • 3/4 cup cold buttermilk, plus a little for brushing
  • Gravy: 1 pound bulk pork breakfast sausage
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • Salt and plenty of black pepper

Directions

  1. Heat the oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients for the biscuits in a bowl. Work in the cold butter with your fingertips until there are still pea-size pieces. Those make the flaky layers.
  3. Add the buttermilk and stir just until a shaggy dough forms. Don’t overwork it.
  4. Pat and fold. On a floured board, pat the dough into a rectangle, fold it in thirds like a letter, and pat it out about 3/4 inch thick.
  5. Cut rounds with a 2 1/2-inch cutter and set them on the pan, close together for soft sides or an inch apart for crisp ones. Press the scraps together and cut more. Brush the tops with buttermilk.
  6. Bake about 15 minutes, until lightly browned.
  7. Meanwhile, brown the sausage in a 10- to 12-inch skillet over medium heat, breaking it up, until no pink remains (160°F).
  8. Make the roux. Leave about 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan with the sausage (pour off extra). Sprinkle in the flour and stir it around about 3 minutes.
  9. Add milk a little at a time, whisking, and scrape up the browned bits. Bring to a simmer and cook a few minutes until thick. Thin with a splash more milk if needed.
  10. Season with salt and lots of black pepper. Split the biscuits and spoon the gravy over.
Safety: Cook pork sausage to 160°F. Keep little hands back from the hot skillet and grease.

Tips

Measure flour by spooning it into the cup and leveling it; scooping packs it in and makes dry biscuits. Lightly browned is the goal, not dark.