Traditional buttermilk biscuits with chocolate gravy.... yes. Chocolate. This old-school Southern treat isn’t seen too much anymore. Back in the day, many farm families would make a skillet chocolate sauce or ‘gravy’ and turn their leftover breakfast biscuits into a sweet treat or dessert.
You can use your own biscuit recipe or even use canned or frozen biscuits if you must. The key is to make sure the biscuits are nice and warm before you spoon over the chocolate gravy. If I'm using leftover biscuits, I warm them in the oven while I'm making the gravy.
TRADITONAL BUTTERMILK BISCUITS
INGREDIENTS
½ cup cold butter (one stick)
2 cups self-rising flour
¾ cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry cutter or fork. Add the buttermilk. Stir just until moistened. Turn out onto a floured work surface. Flour rolling pin. Knead 3-4 times. Roll dough ¾” thick. Cut with a 2” circle biscuit cutter that you flour between each cut. Place on a greased baking sheet. Let them barely touch if you want taller biscuits- they'll have each other to push against to help them rise. Don't let them touch if you like a less 'fluffy' biscuit. Brush with melted butter and bake for 12-14 minutes.
Makes about a dozen.
CHOCOLATE GRAVY
INGREDIENTS
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Pinch kosher salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 ½ cups whole milk
DIRECTIONS:
Sift the sugar, salt, cocoa powder and flour together. Put butter in a cast iron skillet. Over medium-low heat, add the flour mixture and cook like you would a roux, stirring until it becomes light brown and you've cooked off some of the raw flour taste.
Whisk in the milk, a little at a time, whisking each addition until smooth. Keep whisking until there are no lumps. Turn up the heat to medium heat, stirring continually until it thickens.
I like to add shavings of some really good chocolate when I serve it... I keep scraps just for this purpose.
