Buttermilk Biscuits & Sausage Gravy

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp cold butter, cubed
• ¾ cup cold buttermilk
• 12 oz breakfast sausage
• 3 tbsp flour (for the gravy)
• 2½ cups whole milk
• ½ tsp black pepper, plus lots more

Method

1. Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Cut the cold butter into the flour, baking powder, and salt until pea-sized shards remain, then stir in the buttermilk just until shaggy — overworking is the enemy of flake.
2. Pat the dough 1 inch thick on a floured counter, fold it in thirds like a letter, pat again, and stamp out rounds. Bake on a tray, sides touching, 14–16 minutes until tall and golden.
3. Meanwhile, brown the sausage in a skillet over medium heat, breaking it into rubble, until no pink remains.
4. Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and cook 1 minute, then whisk in the milk gradually. Simmer, stirring, until thick enough to blanket a biscuit, 4–5 minutes.
5. Season the gravy with pepper until it looks almost speckled — that's correct — and ladle over split hot biscuits.