Vegan Breakfast
Vegan Biscuits & Sausage Gravy
   
Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage Sausage Gravy Over Vegan Biscuits


Homemade "Buttermilk" Biscuits & "Sausage" Gravy
Who doesn't love biscuits???? And these are just as good as the bacon grease version my Grandma Slaton made. The secret is to barely combine the ingredients and softly gather the dough so it stays light and fluffy when baked. I promise that this breakfast will be a WINNER with everyone!


Preheat Oven to 450 degrees F.

Ingredients
2 cups Bob's Red Mill Unbleached Organic White Flour (try using 1 cup organic spelt and 1 cup organic white flours)

3 teaspoons Bob's Red Mill Baking Powder

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup - plus 2 tablespoons Jarrow's Cold Pressed Organic Virgin Coconut Oil or Organic Earth Balance (I order my Jarrow's from iHerb.com - save $5 more if you use code BET563 at checkout.)

3/4 cup soy milk or soy milk creamer, Plain

1 teaspoon organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon soymilk creamer, reserved for brushing biscuits before baking

HINT: I fill 6 small white cupcake cups with 1/4 cup coconut oil and freeze them solid. Once frozen, I place them in a freezer bag and pull one out whenever making biscuits or pastry. A knife easily cuts the coconut oil into quarters and it helps create those pea-shapes granules in the flour when place in my Cuisinart with the knife blade. The COLD creates a lighter biscuit or pastry dough.

Tools
biscuit cutter, 2" round
Cuisinart Food Processor
spatula
insulated baking sheet
pastry brush

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


Sifted flour into the Cuisinart Food Processor fitted with the Knife Blade.


Add shortening and sea salt and pulse a few times until the flour resembles small pea sized particles... NO NOT OVER MIX!

Mock Buttermilk
Add the vinegar to the soymilk... this creates "mock buttermilk".

Drizzle the "mock buttermilk" through the feed tube and pulse till the mixture starts to form a ball... STOP don't over process. The ingredients should NOT be totally combined.

Scoop the dough contents out onto a floured surface, and dust with more flour.






Gently gather the dough together and gently press out to a 3/4 inch high circle.




With a 2-inch stainless round cutter, cut out as many biscuits as possible... I can make 14 from this recipe.

Arrange the cut biscuits on a cookie sheet with space between each one...no edges touching.

Brush the tops of all the biscuits with a pastry brush to ensure browning.

Bake at 450 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes or until gently golden brown.

NOTE: Higher altitudes may take longer and thicker biscuits may take longer as well.


Spelt Square Cut Vegan Biscuits


Unbleached Organic Flour Vegan Biscuits


How to Freeze Vegan Biscuit Dough
Biscuit preparation for a crowd can be overwhelming, but with a bit of pre-planning it’s possible to do all the creation ahead of time and freeze the cut-out dough.

Simply follow the recipe to the cutting point and place the biscuit shapes on a parchment covered baking sheet or tray that will fit into your freezer space. The biscuit shapes should not touch. Once the biscuits are frozen solid move them to a freezer bag, press all the excess air out and seal. One month is the longest I’ve ever kept vegan biscuits in the freezer.

I transported frozen breakfast biscuits to a mountain cabin retreat serving 2 biscuits per person for nine guests. I simply covered a baking sheet with parchment, added the frozen biscuits, painted the tops of each with a pastry brush dipped in soy milk creamer, then baked them in a pre-heated 450 degree F oven.


Presentation
Whether you like honey, jam, jelly, or gravy, these little gems are light, fluffy and tasty! At my house, we like to split one or two in half and ladle on some Breakfast Sausage Gravy. Oooo, la, la!

Biscuit sizes can vary, so try using a larger cutter for he-man sizes or use a dainty shape cutter for a tea party. NOTE: larger sizes will require a bit more cooking time.


Reheating Biscuits
Should you ever have any leftovers, I found that if I cut them in half with a serrated knife and then put them into my panini maker, they heated up quickly and they become moist like just out of the oven.





Vegan Breakfast Sausage Gravy
This is an easy breakfast gravy that my grandmother, Jody Mae Slaton, made to go over her homemade buttermilk biscuits. I've adapted the recipe to reflect a healthier vegan version that is quick and easy to make on a cold winter morning. Not only will it taste great, but the entire house will smell great from the vegan sausage!


Ingredients
6 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Unbromated Unbleached Organic Flour or Spelt Flour

1 box Trader Joe's Unsweetened Soy Milk (32 ounces/1 quart) or vegan milk of choice

4 - 6 vegan breakfast sausages

sea salt to taste

pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, if you like spicy

1 teaspoon black or white pepper


Variation UPDATE: Biscuis and Gravy are great for DINNER TIME too! Use Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage Sausages instead of breakfast sausage and add 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh sage leaves... fabulous flavor and a great dinner menu!



Tools
heavy bottomed saucepan
measuring cups
measuring spoons
small sauce pan
heavy bottomed fry pan
spatula
stainless steel whisk


Preparation
Sauté the Vegan Sausage
Sauté your favorite vegan sausage until brown and then crumble into small pieces.

Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside.

Boca Vegan Sausage Patties (not made anymore... try Gimme Lean instead!)



Oil and flour combined in a roux with red pepper flakes and black pepper added.

In a large heavy bottomed sauce pan, add the oil and stir in the flour.

Cook this oil and flour mixture over low heat until the flour is a creamy golden brown... stirring often with a whisk to prevent burning.

Roux takes on a creamy golden brown color when cooked.

Preheat Soy Milk
Preheat the plain soy milk over medium heat until hot, but not boiling.
Pour about half of the soy milk into the bubbling browned flour and whisk quickly... add the remainder and whisk until smooth.

Sauce after soy milk is added and sausage crumbles mixed into roux gravy.

Add the crumbled sausage pieces and stir into the gravy and ladle over you're fresh homemade mock buttermilk biscuits and enjoy.

Gravy Thickens
Remember that the gravies will solidify as they cool. If you reheat the cold gravy leftovers after refrigeration, you will have to add water or soy milk to get it back to a serving consistency. Simply add small amounts of liquid until the gravy becomes the consistency desired.

Basic Vegan Biscuits and Gravy

Presentation
I love to serve this Sausage Gravy ladled over homemade mock buttermilk biscuits, fresh fruit on the side and a large espresso... this makes a great weekend brunch. Even non-vegans love this dish and always ask for MORE!