This was one of my all-time favorite breakfasts my mom would make when I was a child. It only happened once a year or so, but that made it all the more special. So much so, that this was one of the first things I would make for my college roommates when we finally moved into a space with a kitchen. It is homey, comforting, and delicious. If you’ve never made gravy before, fear not! It is much easier than it seems.

Kids 2-5:

• Stirring dry ingredients for biscuits.
• Pouring in pre-measured ingredients for biscuits.
• Stirring dough together.
• Squishing biscuits and rolling dough balls (no raw eggs so this is a great textural exploration dough. Still has raw flour, so I don’t encourage them eating it)

Kids 5-8 years old:

• Measuring and pouring ingredients for biscuits
• Stirring and kneading dough
• Whisking gravy with supervision

Kids 8+ years old:

• Can do almost every task for this recipe with supervision.
• Supervise cooking of sausage and handling stove and oven.

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

For Biscuits:

2 Tablespoons canola oil

2 cups all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon white sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup cold butter

¾ cup milk

For Sausage Gravy:

1 pound breakfast sausage (loose)

1/4 canola oil

1/4 cup all purpose flour

4 cups whole milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

1. Start Biscuits
   • Preheat oven to 450*F.
   • Pour 2 Tablespoons canola oil into a 8-10 inch iron skillet or baking pan.
   • Combine 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon white sugar, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl.
   • Cut in butter with a pastry blender (see note)
   • Add milk and stir with a large spoon.
   • After dough comes together, squish it together with your hand. Fold the dough over and squish again. Repeat this 3-4 times until you have produced some layering in your biscuit. Don’t work the dough too much or it will become tough.
   • Cut dough into 8 pieces with a bench scraper or butter knife. Gently roll dough pieces into a ball (it’s okay if it’s lumpy, this will make yummy crispy bits)
   • Drop dough into the iron skillet or baking pan you put oil in earlier.
   • Bake for 10-12 minutes or until tops are lightly browned.
2. Start Gravy
   • Add your 1 pound of breakfast sausage to a large dutch oven or other heavy bottomed, deep pan.
   • Cook sausage and break into small pieces until it is no longer pink and registers 165*F on a meat thermometer.
   • Remove sausage from pan and set aside in a bowl.
   • Add 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup oil to your pot. It’s okay if there is a bit of brown left from cooking the sausage, this will add flavor! It is called the fond.
   • Whisk oil and flour over medium heat until it turns light tan colored and smells toasty.
   • Add your milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Whisk constantly and cook over medium heat until gravy thickens.
   • Add sausage back to pot and taste for salt.
3. Serve biscuits torn open with sausage gravy spread over the top.

Notes:

• The easiest way to cut in butter is to start with it cold. Then cut butter long ways. The roll butter on it’s side and cut long ways again so that you have cheese stick-like pieces. Then slice these pieces into small cubes, trying not to melt the butter with your warm hands as much as possible. The toss your cubes into your flour mixture and either cut with a pastry blender or use two forks to mash the butter into the flour until the butter turns pea sized.
• The deep pan we use to cook the breakfast sausage helps to contain the grease splatter. You can use a skillet here, but you will get more splatter. You want a thick bottomed pot to avoid scorching your milk later on.
• These biscuits are phenomenal and my gold standard, but often making two recipes in the morning is too much. Feel free to use canned biscuits or even serve this sausage gravy over toast or English muffins. My mom often did this as a frugal means in my childhood as butter and milk were, and are, expensive. On that note, you can also sub a neutral tasting oil such as canola for the butter to bring down the cost of the biscuits as well. They won’t be as flaky and tender, but they will be a great vehicle for the gravy.
• Freeze biscuits on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper before you bake them. Once they are frozen, you can put them in a zip top bag to store in the freezer. I do not recommend freezing the gravy because of it’s high milk content. The milk will separate and the texture will turn weird.