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Imagine waking up to: pillowy, soft biscuits bathed in melted butter, packed with tasty sausage and gooey cheese. These morning treats are the comfort food that'll have you jumping out of bed. No complicated techniques here – simply combine, dump, and let your oven do all the work.
We stumbled upon these biscuits during a laid-back family breakfast, and now they're what we always make when company stays over. Even my choosy nephew wants more, which really tells you everything about how yummy they are.
Key Ingredients
- Breakfast Sausage: Pick whatever type you like best, from mild country to hot Italian. I really love the sage kind for the wonderful smells it brings to your kitchen
- Buttermilk: This is a must-have! Its slight tang makes your biscuits soft and airy. If you're out, just mix a spoonful of lemon juice into regular milk
- Sharp Cheddar: Shred it yourself instead of buying the pre-packaged stuff. Freshly grated melts way better and tastes so much richer
- Real Butter: This isn't the place for substitutes. Only true butter gives you that amazing brown crust and rich taste that makes these so special
- Baking Powder: Make sure it's new! Old powder won't help your biscuits rise properly
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Step-By-Step Cooking Guide
- Cook The Sausage
- Get a big skillet hot over medium heat but not smoking-hot. As you cook, break the sausage into tiny bits. Keep cooking until it turns a nice dark golden color, around 8-10 minutes. Put it on paper towels to soak up the extra fat.
- Mix The Dry Stuff
- In a big bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and baking powder until they're all mixed up. Make a hole in the middle for your wet stuff. Slowly add buttermilk, stirring just enough to mix it all. Your mix should be thick but still easy to stir.
- Add The Good Stuff
- Carefully fold in your cooled sausage pieces. Add your cheese in two separate batches, mixing lightly. Don't stir too much or your biscuits won't be soft.
- Get Ready To Bake
- Let butter melt in your baking dish inside the hot oven. Keep an eye on it - you want melted butter, not brown butter. Pour your mix over the melted butter. Use a knife to mark squares in the top.
- Bake Until Done
- Put it in the hot oven and keep that door shut. Bake until the top turns golden brown. You'll know it's ready when butter bubbles around the edges.
When I first tried making these, I wasn't sure about using so much butter. But believe me, that's exactly what gives them their amazing texture - crispy outside, soft inside. My grandma always told me, "You can't go wrong with butter in baking," and this really shows she was right.
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I've whipped these biscuits up so many times, and they always wow everyone. For simple family breakfasts or fancy holiday brunches, they're always the first thing people grab. There's just something about those buttery, flaky layers with savory sausage and cheese that nobody can turn down.
Frequently Asked Questions
- → What makes them 'butter swim' biscuits?
- The dough is poured onto melted butter, letting it float while baking to make the outside crispy and buttery.
- → Could I use a metal pan instead?
- Glass or ceramic dishes work better to keep the biscuits from over-browning by evenly distributing heat.
- → How can I replace buttermilk?
- If you're out of buttermilk, stir 1 3/4 cups milk with 1.5 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice, then wait five minutes.
- → Can these biscuits be prepped in advance?
- They taste best fresh, but you can warm them up in the oven at 350°F for a few minutes to revive them.
- → Why cut them before they go in the oven?
- Scoring in advance ensures neat sections after baking while helping them cook all the way through.