biscuits – Compassion is the Secret Ingredient

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About a month and a half ago I shared with y’all my recipe for Vegan Southern-Style Biscuits and my-oh-my did they become beloved in a hurry. Now of course they’re delicious all by themselves but there is one particular way that I enjoy eating them and that’s under generous amounts of glorious gravy -can I get an Amen?! In making my gravy I like to use a little something special to boost the flavor. What is that little something special you ask? Magic!

(Hilarious side note speaking of magic: I once had a dream that me and David Blaine were set to be married but he wanted to bail on me so we went to the Dr. Phil show to have him help us with our premarital problems. Dr. Phil got David to admit the reason why he didn’t want to marry me and that was because he felt that I wasn’t “magic enough.” #OhTheCrazyShitIDreamAbout #MrsDavidBlaine #OrNot)

Okay… now back to the real magic. Magic in the form of Bragg Organic Sprinkle, that is! This stuff has literally everything in it, 24 herbs and spices in total, and it’s really good. It takes what could have been just a basic gravy and transforms it into anything but basic. Now even though the Sprinkle makes this gravy pretty flavorful for a white gravy, it’s not overpowering so you’ll still be able to taste those big beautiful biscuits underneath.

As for said biscuits, you’ll need to click on over to that using the link above. There you’ll find pictures of the process, and of course the recipe, so that you can whip up the 1st part of this 2 part dish. The 2nd part, the gravy, is right here…

To get started on the gravy, put 1 stick (yes, you read that right) of vegan butter into a large saucepan, or large cast-iron skillet should you want to get really southern with it, and let it melt down over medium heat. Once melted, add some flour (exact measurements are in the recipe below) and then whisk the mixture until bubbling and kind of foamy looking. (If you’ve seen some of my recipes thus far then you’re more than familiar with this process!)

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The next step is to add the almond milk and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for just about a minute or so and then reduce the heat to simmer.

You should be whisking or stirring the mixture the whole way through this process, just so you know. A gravy should never be left unsupervised or it’s likely to act out or burn. It’s naughty like that.

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As the mixture begins to thicken, add in the seasonings being sure to crush the Sprinkle good in the palm of your hand, or in a mortar and pestle, before adding it.

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Cook the mixture a little longer and that’s pretty much it -you’ve got gravy! Plop it over some biscuits and enjoy!

Vegan Southern-Style Biscuits & Gravy

Servings: 7 biscuits & about 4 cups of gravy (that's a little over a half of a cup of gravy for each biscuit)
Time: 30 minutes
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Credit: Compassion is the Secret Ingredient, http://www.citsiblog.com

Ingredients

1 stick of vegan butter
1/2 cup flour
6 cups unsweetened almond milk
2 teaspoons Bragg Organic Sprinkle, crushed well in hand or in mortar and pestle
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 batch of Vegan Southern-Style Biscuits

Directions

In a large saucepan or cast-iron skillet over medium heat, melt vegan butter. Once melted, add flour and whisk mixture until bubbling and kind of foamy in appearance, about 2-3 minutes.
Add in almond milk and bring mixture to a boil. Once boiling, boil for about a minute whisking or stirring frequently. Reduce heat to simmer and add crushed Bragg Organic Sprinkle, black pepper, and salt. Continue to cook mixture, stirring occasionally, on low-med. heat for another 10-15 minutes.
When gravy is done, serve over biscuits. Gravy will keep in an airtight container in fridge for up to 4 days, biscuits will keep in an airtight container on counter for up to 3 days.

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In case you weren’t aware, honey, I’m from the south. Albeit the southwest but still, the south. I’ve always wished that I was from the actual south where me saying “y’all” all the time wouldn’t garner funny looks but that just wasn’t the case -I was born in Phoenix. Despite this, I’d like to think that I’ve still got a little southern blood in me because some lucky ducks who lived long before I ever came along did actually live in the south. #FamilyTreeForTheWin

With my love for nearly all things southern and my desire to have been born a southern belle, surely I had to perfect the art of biscuit making because ain’t no southerner a proud one unless they can make a biscuit worth a damn. At least, that’s my belief anyway. So I set out to make the best vegan southern-style biscuits ever and you know what? After numerous attempts, recipe tweaks, and botched batches I think I have indeed come up with the best recipe for southern-style biscuits.

My biscuits are so good they’ll make you wanna slap yo’ mama -but please don’t be slappin’ yo’ mama. They’ll make you wanna sit on a front porch. Don’t have a front porch? Borrow your neighbors. These biscuits will make you say, “Lord, have mercy,” as you reach for another. And why will they make you do all of this?? Because they’re that good. They’re lightly flavored which means that they are perfect all by themselves or paired with say, gravy, or a jam, or vegan fried “chicken.” They’re not dry and crumbly like some biscuits can be and best of all they’re pretty easy to make, too.

To get started, first we are going to prepare the 2 liquid ingredients so that when we are ready to use them they are ready to be used. To prepare the ice cold water you’ll simply add ice to water -I mean, did I even need to explain that? To prepare our “buttermilk” you’re going to combine unsweetened almond milk with a little bit of vinegar and then give it a stir.

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The next step is to get the dry ingredients whisked together.

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Once the dry ingredients have been thoroughly combined you’re going to add in the “buttermilk” mixture, vegan butter, a little coconut oil, and some sugar. Using either 2 knives or what I have, a pastry cutter, you’re going to bring the biscuit dough together. As you’re doing this you’re going to add in a few tablespoons of the ice cold water we prepared earlier to help with this process.

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When the dough has come together it should look a little like the picture below. If you have some flour that didn’t quite work in don’t worry about it -just get the dough as combined as possible without A) overworking it, and B) adding too much water.

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You should be able to grab the dough, pinch it or press it, and see it hold together nicely.

Turn out your biscuit dough onto a very lightly floured surface and work it a little, gently pressing the dough flat then folding it over onto itself and repeating the process. In doing this we’re creating layers in our biscuits and we are working in just a little more of the loose flour. Be sure to only do this for about a minute and no more than that because we don’t want to melt the butter and warm the dough with our hands.

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Press the dough out into a circle a little over an inch thick (I go for about an inch and a third or an inch and a half) then, using a round 3″ cookie cutter, cut out your biscuits. Be sure to not twist your cookie cutter as you press down because this action might result in biscuits that don’t rise as much as they should. You’ll likely need to re-form the dough once or twice in order to cut out all of your biscuits and that’s okay.

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Place your biscuits (you should have 7 of them) on a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake ’em for 9 minutes.

After they’ve baked for 9 minutes, take them out of the oven, flip each one over, and then brush them generously with some melted vegan butter. Now slide them back in the oven for a final 9 minutes.

At this point, you’re so close to having some south in your mouth that you’ll probably be drooling but try to contain yourself, darlin’, cause they’re almost done!

When they’re done they’ll have tops that are the softest shade of golden brown. Enjoy ’em while they’re still warm or enjoy ’em a day or two later -either way you will enjoy ’em.

Vegan Southern-Style Biscuits

Servings: about 7 biscuits
Time: 30 minutes
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Credit: Compassion is the Secret Ingredient, http://www.citsiblog.com

Ingredients

Ice water
1/2 tablespoon vinegar
2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 cups self-rising flour, plus a little extra for your board
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons vegan butter, slightly room temperature just to make it a little easier to work with, plus 2 additional separate tablespoons, melted, for brushing on the biscuits
1 teaspoon refined coconut oil, solid
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and prepare a sheet pan by lining it with parchment paper. Prepare the liquids needed by adding ice to water in one dish or cup, and by adding the vinegar to the almond milk to create a “buttermilk” substitute in another dish or cup. Stir the “buttermilk” mixture to combine then set aside both it and the ice water until needed.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder, and whisk to break apart any lumps that you may have. Add in the “buttermilk” mixture, slightly room temperature vegan butter, coconut oil, and sugar. Using 2 knives or a pastry cutter, start to blend the dough together. As you’re bringing the dough together, add in about 4 tablespoons of ice water. If you have some flour that doesn’t quite work in don’t worry about it -just get the dough as combined as possible without overworking it or adding too much water. You’ll know the dough is ready when you can grab the dough, pinch it or press it, and see it hold together nicely.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and work it a little, gently pressing the dough flat then folding it over onto itself and repeating the process to create layers in our biscuits and to work in just a little more of any loose flour you may have. Be sure to only do this for about a minute so that you don’t melt the butter and warm the dough with your hands.
Press the dough out into a circle a little over an inch thick then, using a round 3″ cookie cutter, cut out your biscuits. Be sure to not twist your cookie cutter as you press down because this action might result in biscuits that don’t rise as much as they should. You’ll likely need to re-form the dough once or twice in order to cut out all of your biscuits and that’s okay. Place the biscuits onto your prepared sheet pan and bake them for 9 minutes.
Remove the biscuits from the oven, flip each one over, then brush each generously with melted vegan butter. Put them back in the oven for an additional 9 minutes. When done, biscuits will keep on the counter in an airtight container for about 2-3 days.