From Scratch Biscuits and Sweet Milk Gravy .... ~ N ~ the Kitchen with Sweet Magnolias Farm

 

Good Saturday Morning to you all !

 

Well .. I don't think I have ever shared ...

 

That My favorite Breakfast is none other than Biscuits and Gravy ..

 

Homemade that is .. !

 

Now in a pinch I'll have some canned biscuits but it's gotta be dire straits ... Or instead of biscuits we'd be making donuts...

 

I've loved biscuits and gravy since I was a little girl...

 

Mom has always been a from scratch cook .. She's one of those people that just has the gift for cooking ..and makes the best down home comfort food ever !  I grew up eating her biscuits and gravy .. and to me they are the best !

 

I do my fair share of cooking .. she's taught me over the years .. but it never comes out tasting quite as good as hers .. there's just something about her touch that makes the food taste amazing and gives you the comfort that comes with homemade by mom.

 

Over the years because of my adoration for Biscuits and Gravy .. we've tried a number of different Biscuit recipes and even in the last 6 months with the popularity of  Pinterest and all those recipes that get pinned we've tried a few more .. and after much consideration of seeing if we could top the biscuits she makes .. well we just didn't have a winner .. but that's just purely personal.

 

We prefer a tried and true biscuit that is light, airy and layered .. We found that the other biscuit recipes we tried .. were super dense, dry, and thick like bread.  I've had this style biscuit at restaurants and although it was good for restaurant eating .. I'll stick with our light and airy homemade biscuits any day.

 

Mom's biscuit recipe comes from her original 1960's Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.
 

 

These are pretty simple and quick to bake .. takes about 15 minutes to prepare the dough and 10 minutes to bake them.

 

We usually just bake a batch in our toaster oven in the morning so we don't have to turn on the big oven .. They bake up beautifully and it saves on the all that Gas for a little pan of biscuits and all that heat especially when we are baking in the summer which lasts a long time here ..Now when winter rolls around we just crank the big oven on and let the heat warm the house ..

 

 

 

So If you're a homemade Biscuits and Gravy Lover like me ...

 

Here's Some picts of our Saturday Morning Breakfast and our recipe which we hope you love as much as we do !

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom's cookbook .. it's worn out and just about falling apart ..Pages are loose .. and some frayed at the edges .. it's been well loved and the food from it.. made with love and enjoyed thoroughly !

 

 

 

 

 

RECIPE:

 

If you don't have this cookbook ... Here's a scan of the page .. simply right click and save to your "My Pictures" ...and then Print it out ..

 

Original recipe off of scan above Reads:

 

 

2 Cups sifted all purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 cup shortening

2/3 cup milk

 

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cream of tartar, and sugar. Cut in shortening until texture resembles course crumbs. Add milk all at once; stir only till dough follows fork around bowl. Turn out on lightly floured surface; knead gently 1/2 minute.

Pat or roll 1/2 inch thick; cut with biscuit cutter.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet in very hot oven (450) degrees 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 16 medium biscuits

 

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TIPs :

Sometime we use our non-fat milk to make these .. they do turn out they are just not quite as rich.

 

 

We always use shortening .. this is one reason the biscuits are light and airy ( we use Crisco just plain NOT butter flavored)

 

Sometimes we will add some extra milk .. if the dough seems a little dry in the bowl after stirring .. but just a little...

 

We  use our wood bread board to flour and pat the dough out .. it makes for easy clean up just carry the bread board to the trash or sink to clean off and leaves the counter fairly clean this way.

 

We hand pat the dough out .. and then we use a small juice glass for out cutter .. we dip the edge of the glass in the flour and then cut the biscuits .. you will need to re-dip the edge of the glass in flour for each cut so your biscuits don't stick to the rim and come out easy ..same thing if you use a cutter !

 

As I mentioned when we bake ours in our Oster toaster oven .. We put them in and set the timer for 2 minutes .. once they have baked for 2 minutes we put a piece of foil just lightly laid over the top of them and set the timer for 5 minutes .. this keeps the tops from burning in the toaster oven then after the 5 minutes we take the foil off and re-set the timer for 2 more minutes so they can brown on top .. every oven will vary in how it bakes so you will just need to experiment with your oven the first time to get it right for you...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick and Easy Homemade Sweet Milk Gravy:

 

We make a pretty quick and easy homemade gravy there's not really any set recipe we just put a little of this and that until it comes out ..so here's an approx. recipe for you all ...

 

All you need is:

 

Flour  approx 1/4 to 1/3 Cup

 

Sausage or Bacon Grease ( corn oil can be used in a pinch)  approx.1/4 Cup

 

Milk (we use lactaid free non-fat) any milk will work 2 to 3 cups

 

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

 

First you want to get your oil hot .. then add in the flour a little at a time stirring constantly while allowing the flour to brown... Once the flour has a nice browned look ( not burned) ... then add in your milk a little at a time stirring constantly... you will start off with a thick paste and as you add your milk and stir it will turn into a nice thick or thin gravy all depending on how much milk you add .. Add salt and pepper while stirring we just add a little of each to taste.

 

The gravy will set up thicker as it cools .. and can be reheated the next day just simply turn on the fire, add some milk, stirring constantly and it will re liquefy. That is if you have left overs.

 

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P.S. we Love Bacon or Sausage with our B&G .. this morning we had or favorite sausage .. Jimmy Deans Maple Sausage ... Love the maple flavor !  Our Favorite bacon is Coleman ..which is a natural bacon which we buy at the local Sprouts Market.  If we could find a natural maple sausage we'd be super happy ! and a year ago .. you would have found a scrambled egg on my plate too... but for some reason about 8 - 9 months ago eggs started making me sick .. Never had that problem before so I just stopped eating them but how I do miss my scrambled eggs piled high on my B&G !

And if you're just not a gravy kind of person ...

 

 

Well they are amazingly good biscuits with just a bit of melted butter .. in fact sometimes I will admit to eating them without gravy .. because these biscuits have such great flavor without the gravy ! 

 

Yes this Farm Girl will work for Biscuits .. I've been known to trade a little work for some homemade biscuits..

 

 

ENJOY ♥