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Ingredients
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Biscuits (White Lily style)
Country Gravy
Method
Biscuits (White Lily style)
- 1
Preheat and prep
Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C). Put a large baking sheet in the oven to heat (or line a sheet and keep it ready). Keep butter and buttermilk cold until use.
- 2
Cut butter into flour
In a large bowl, combine the 4 cups White Lily self-rising flour. If you are using all-purpose flour instead, whisk in 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt. Grate the very cold unsalted butter on the large holes of a box grater or cut into small cubes and use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut it into the flour. Work quickly until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized bits of butter remaining.
- 3
Add buttermilk and fold
Make a well in the center and pour in 1 1/4 cups cold buttermilk. Using a fork or a bench scraper, gently fold the dough just until it comes together; it will be shaggy and slightly sticky. Do not overwork. If dough seems dry, add up to 2 tablespoons additional buttermilk.
- 4
Pat and fold for layers
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface (use a little White Lily flour). With floured hands, pat the dough into a rectangle about 3/4" (2 cm) thick. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter, then rotate 90° and pat to 3/4" again. Repeat one more time for 2–3 folds total to build flaky layers.
- 5
Cut biscuits
Pat the dough to a final thickness of 3/4" and use a 2 1/2" round cutter (do not twist) to cut biscuits, pressing straight down. Re-roll scraps once or twice only, keeping dough cold and handling minimally. You should get about 10–12 biscuits depending on cutter size.
- 6
Bake
Place biscuits close together on the hot baking sheet so they rise tall (or spaced for crisper sides). Brush tops lightly with a bit of melted butter if desired. Bake in the preheated 450°F oven for 12–15 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Remove to a rack and keep warm while making gravy.
Country Gravy
- 7
Reserve drippings
If you cooked sausage or bacon, reserve 1/2 cup of the hot drippings in a medium skillet. If you do not have drippings, melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter in the skillet and use that instead.
- 8
Make roux
Place the skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle 1/2 cup all-purpose flour into the hot drippings and whisk constantly to make a smooth paste. Cook the roux for 2–3 minutes, stirring, until it turns a pale golden color and loses the raw flour smell. Do not let it darken too much for a classic country gravy.
- 9
Add milk
Gradually whisk in 3 cups whole milk, a little at a time, whisking vigorously to prevent lumps. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat, continuing to whisk as it thickens. This should take 4–6 minutes.
- 10
Season and adjust
Once the gravy has thickened to coat the back of a spoon, season with 1 tsp kosher salt and 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Taste and add more salt or pepper as needed. If the gravy is too thick, whisk in up to 1/4 cup hot water or additional milk to reach desired consistency.
- 11
Finish
If you reserved crumbled cooked sausage, stir it into the gravy and heat through. Keep the gravy warm over the lowest heat, stirring occasionally, until ready to serve.
- 12
Serve
Split warm biscuits and spoon generous amounts of country gravy over each half. Serve immediately.