Recipe Background
Biscuits & Gravy Bake: a comforting dish ideal for settling into new spaces.
The Biscuits & Gravy Bake was born out of a classic moving day fiasco. I'd packed up my life, laden with boxes labeled 'kitchen magic', and found myself exhausted in a new city with nothing but a suitcase and a yearning for something familiar. In a kitchen devoid of charm but rich in potential, I pulled out my trusty cast iron skillet and set to work. My pantry staples—flour and cornstarch, along with a pound of breakfast sausage—were the stars of the show. Rolling out a generous mound of flour and cold butter, I quickly learned that using a pastry cutter prevented my hands from warming the mix. Letting the dough rest for just those few extra minutes meant I could achieve that perfect flakiness when using the biscuit cutter.
As the smell of sage-filled sausage and nutmeg-infused gravy filled my tiny, box-crammed living room, I felt the stress of moving lift with each bubble of the thickening sauce. The key was never twisting the biscuit cutter, just a firm press down ensured each round would rise to its fluffy potential. I watched as the biscuits turned golden above the bubbling gravy, the combination creating a symphony of textures that couldn’t be resisted. After cooling it just long enough to set, it became clear: this bake wasn’t just a meal, it was the perfect introduction to a new home.
That first bite was both soothing and grounding, reminding me why I loved cooking—a little culinary brilliance turning an ordinary day unforgettable. Now, when family visits or a friend needs comfort, I recreate this bake in that same skillet. The aroma alone brings everyone to the kitchen, and it tastes just the way new beginnings should feel, wonderfully homemade.
Ingredients
For the biscuits:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus more, to taste, for dusting the work surface
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter cold and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- 1 cup buttermilk cold
For the gravy:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 (8-ounce) carton mushrooms sliced
- 1/4 cup yellow onions chopped
- 1 pound breakfast pork sausage
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter optional, melted
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, add 2 1/4 cups of the flour, the cornstarch, the baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon of the salt and whisk to combine.
- Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the cold butter over the flour mixture and using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles small peas.
- Add the buttermilk to the flour and using a spatula, toss until the mixture is shaggy but isn't quite a dough yet.
- Using the extra flour, dust a work surface.
- Turn the flour mixture out onto the prepared work surface and bring it together into a mound. Don't worry if it is a bit crumbly.
- Roll the flour mixture out into a 10-inch-wide square.
- Using a bench scraper or a spatula, fold the flour mixture up like a letter by folding 1/3 of the square into the center and folding the other side over the first fold.
- Rotate the folded flour mixture about 90 degrees and re-roll it out into a 10-inch square.
- Repeat the folding and rolling process until the flour mixture comes together into a dough, about 3-4 times.
- Roll the dough out into a 10-inch-wide, 1/2-inch-thick square.
- Using a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, cut circles out of the dough. You should be able to cut about 16 biscuits from the square. Do not twist the biscuit cutter as you cut out the circles; make sure to press straight down and then pull it straight up to ensure the best rise and texture for the biscuits.
- Set 12 of the biscuit dough rounds aside.
- In the bottom of a 9x13-inch, evenly place 4 of the biscuit dough rounds.
- Cut the excess biscuit dough left over from cutting out the rounds into pieces and scatter them evenly in the bottom of the baking dish. The goal is to cover the bottom of the baking dish completely.
- Place the baking dish on top of a baking sheet.
- Bake the biscuit layer in the baking dish until they are dried but not browned, about 15 minutes. The biscuit dough will still look very pale at this stage.
- In a large sauté pan over high heat, add the olive oil.
- Add the mushrooms and the onions to the hot oil and cook, while stirring constantly, until the mushrooms start to soften and the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the sausage to the mushroom mixture and cook, while stirring and crumbling the meat, until the sausage starts to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add 6 tablespoons of the remaining flour, the ground sage, the black pepper, the nutmeg, and the remaining salt to the sausage mixture and cook, while stirring, until the flour and the spices are absorbed into the sausage mixture, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the milk to the sausage mixture and immediately reduce the heat to medium.
- Cook the sausage mixture, while stirring, until it begins to bubble and thicken into a gravy, about 3-7 minutes.
- Pour the gravy over the biscuit layer in the baking dish.
- Top the gravy evenly with the reserved biscuit rounds.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the biscuit rounds with the remaining melted butter.
- Bake until the biscuits are golden-brown and the gravy is very bubbly and thick, about 18-23 minutes.
- Allow the bake to cool for 10 minutes.
- Serve.
×