White Chocolate Cream Biscuits with Chocolate Gravy

 

 

Chocolate gravy is seriously delicious.  It is a creamy chocolate fudge sauce that is spooned over biscuits.

We had never heard of it around Midstate Mills until a consumer contacted us and asked for the recipe, so we did some research.  It turns out Chocolate Gravy has actually been written about in food and culture magazine, Saveur   The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture states that it is popular in Appalachia (but we are nearly in Appalachia and had not heard of it) so it must be very regional.

We decided to add more chocolate by making White Chocolate Cream Biscuits. The biscuits are just three ingredients, Southern Biscuit ® Self-Rising Flour, cream, and white chocolate chips.  Southern Biscuit ® Self-Rising Flour is all soft wheat milled in Newton, North Carolina so it makes the texture light and fluffy.  We would not recommend making cream biscuits with just any old flour, they will come out tough.

Now, imagine dessert made in seconds, using ingredients you have at home, and it is inexpensive too.  Here’s a great chocolate combo.

 White Chocolate Biscuits

 

Makes 8 biscuits

2 cups Southern Biscuit ®  Self-Rising Flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.

Combine flour and sugar in a mixing bowl.  Stir in white chocolate chips.

Add heavy cream and mix until combined.  Dough will seem somewhat dryer than traditional biscuit dough.

Roll onto lightly floured surface, form a ball and pat or roll to ½-inch thick.  Cut using a floured 2-inch biscuit cutter.  Brush top with butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until browned.

 

Chocolate Gravy

Makes about 2 cups.

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tablespoons Southern Biscuit ® All-Purpose Flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter

Combine cocoa, flour and sugar in a heavy saucepan.  Whisk in milk.  Heat over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 5 minutes.

Add vanilla and butter to hot mixture.  Serve warm over biscuits.

 

 

 

 

Share the Happiness!

We all know that Biscuits can make you happy! All this month those that like our Facebook page will be able to share a Biscuit “Gift” with their Facebook Friends. Spread the happiness. We have 9 varying Biscuits to make it more fun.  You can share as much as you want!  Start here –> http://on.fb.me/SBDGift

Have fun and let us know what you think about our Biscuit Gifts!

HAPPY SOUTHERN BISCUIT® DAY!!

North Carolina Family-Owned Midstate Mills and Neese’s Sausage pair up to serve

FREE Sausage Biscuits!

Newton, NC (August 14, 2011), On September 14, Midstate Mills will host the second annual Southern Biscuit® Day event by offering free biscuits and sausage to everyone that comes to the town square in Newton, North Carolina between 7 am and noon.

Midstate Mills will be baking biscuits from scratch using Southern Biscuit® Formula L Biscuit Mix and buttermilk.  The family-owned, North Carolina mill is just steps away from the town square and has milled southern flour for over 75 years.  The flour was just mentioned in the New York Times as one of the flours to use for ideal biscuits!

To add to the perfect biscuit, Midstate Mills asked another family-owned North Carolina company, Neese’s Sausage to join them this year.  Neese’s will be cooking their sausage and liver pudding.

The biscuits will be served fast for people on the go or you can linger a while, enjoy meeting your neighbors, sign up for prizes, or learn to make biscuits by coming to a biscuit class at 10:00 am offered by the mills baking experts.  They will announce the winner of a biscuit recipe and hand out the winning recipe at the class.

The event is sponsored by Midstate Mills in Newton, NC. Midstate Mills has been the maker of Southern Biscuit® Flour and Tenda-Bake® Corn Meal and Pancake Mixes for over 75 years.  Come out and meet the folks that make the flour, and grab a quick free breakfast.

The sausage is courtesy of Neese’s, Sausage another family-owned North Carolina food company that has been making sausage for nearly one hundred years and is being run by the fourth generation family in Guilford County.

 

Biscuit Recipe Contest — BISCUIT MONTH CELEBRATION IS COMING SOON!

BISCUIT MONTH CELEBRATION IS COMING SOON!

Midstate Mills Announces Recipe Contest for Biscuit Month!

 Newton, NC (August 1, 2011), Entries for the most original and creative biscuit recipes are being accepted now through September 1 for the 1st Annual BEST SOUTHERN BISCUIT® CONTEST. The winner will receive a gift basket of Southern Biscuit Flour, Tenda-Bake Corn Meal Mix, Tenda-Bake Pancake Mixes and a DVD Cookbook and your recipe will be posted at www.midstatemills.wordpress.com.

The winning recipe will be announced at the Second Annual Southern Biscuit® Day event on the town square in Newton, NC on September 14 at 10:00.  (The winner does not have to be present.)  The Southern Biscuit® Day event is sponsored by Midstate Mills, and includes free biscuits and sausage for each person who comes from 7:00 am to noon.

To enter: 

• Create an original recipe for biscuits using at least 2 cups of Southern Biscuit® Self-Rising Flour, Southern Biscuit® All-Purpose Flour, or Southern Biscuit® Formula L Biscuit Mix.  Recipes will be judged based on originality, texture, flavor, and appearance.
•  Include your name, address and phone number.
• Send your recipe to:  Southern Biscuit Baking Contest, Midstate Mills, Inc., PO 350, Newton, NC  28658, OR to sales@midstatemills.com.  It must be received by September 1.

For more information contact :  Belinda Ellis, Midstate Mills , 865-805-9479,  bebe.ellis@gmail.com

Midstate Mills is the family-owned miller of wheat and corn – North Carolina’s Southern Biscuit Flour and Tenda-Bake Corn Meal, Seasoned Flours, and Pancake Mixes.

Doughnut Biscuits

National Doughnut Day is the First Friday in June, but we say why wait? Our biscuit doughnuts are BAKED not fried, a good reason to have them anytime.

They are fun to make, just start with Southern Biscuit ® Self-Rising Flour, sugar, and cream. Mix and form into “doughnut hole” size balls. The kids will love this project. You pop them in the oven and let them cool enough to handle and let the kids coat them. with a glaze or powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar or sprinkles, the list can go on and on. I love these little bites of hot doughnuts right from the oven.

So since it is National Doughnut Day, we took a look at doughnut history. It seems fried dough is popular in every culture. In the US, National doughnut day started when in 1938 the women in the Salvation Army served doughnuts to soldiers in France during World War 1. If you want to take a deep dive into doughnut history, there is even a book called Glazed America: the History of the Doughnut.

History aside, this is a fun project and they are really, really delicious and better than eating the fried ones!

Doughnut Biscuits

Makes 24 mini-size doughnuts.

2 cups Southern Biscuit® Self-Rising Flour
¼ cup sugar
1 cup cream

Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cream

Powdered Sugar Topping
½ cup melted butter
½ cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir in cream. Dough will be thick. Using a cookie scoop or heaping tablespoon, measure dough and roll into round balls. Place on a baking sheet about 1-inch apart.

Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Coat with either the glaze or powdered sugar toppings.

For glaze: Combine powdered sugar and cream just until you have a thick glaze. Dip biscuits into glaze or brush glaze over biscuits.

For powdered sugar: Dip in butter and then in powdered sugar to coat.

Hot Cross Biscuits

Hot Cross Buns is an Easter favorite.  We made them into biscuits.  The flavors of cinnamon and orange have a come back flavor worth returning to no matter what the date.

These delicious and unique biscuits are topped with a sugar glaze cross or you can simply glaze them.

Makes 8 biscuits

2 cups Southern-Biscuit ® Self-Rising Flour

1/8 cup sugar

¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar

¼ cup (1/2 stick) cold butter

½ cup golden raisins

¼ cup currants

Zest from ½ orange, grated

Zest from ½ lemon, grated

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 large egg, lightly beaten

¾ cup milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

 Glaze

¼ cup confectioners’ sugar

½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450˚F.  Lightly coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, sugar and brown sugar.  Cut in butter using your fingertips, two knives, or a pastry cutter.  Stir in raisins, currants, orange zest, lemon zest, and cinnamon.

Make a well in the center and add egg and milk.  Stir until combined.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Fold three times pressing between folds.  Roll to ½-inch thick. Cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter.  Place on baking sheet ½-inch apart.

Bake for 12 minutes or until light brown.  Brush with melted butter.

To make glaze:  Combine confectioners sugar and lemon juice until glaze is desired thickness.  Place in a small plastic bag and snip the corner of the bag.  Pipe a cross on the cooled biscuits or simply use to glaze the warm biscuits.

Pimento Cheese Biscuits!

“Here in the South we love our pimento cheese spread so we came up with a biscuit that combines the flavor of pimento cheese and the delight of a biscuit. Serve along-side lunch or dinner, or make small ones for a party appetizer.” ~ By Tendabake

 Ingredients:
• 2 cups  Southern Biscuit Self-Rising Flour
• 2 teaspoons  sugar
• 1 teaspoon  freshly ground coarse black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon  cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup  mayonnaise
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup  sharp Cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons  diced pimento

Cooking Instructions:
Heat oven to 450°F. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper.

Combine flour, sugar, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl. Stir in mayonnaise and milk until the flour is moistened. Do not over mix. Stir in the Cheddar cheese and pimento.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

If desired, brush tops with melted butter.

Hog Heaven Pure Lard Biscuits

No one in their right mind would admit to actually eating lard just a few short years ago.  Yet hidden in my memories are the flavors from my grandmother’s kitchen – lard seasoned her green beans, fried chicken, and yes, her biscuits.

Now, lard is cool again.  Books such as the Good Fat Cookbook includes lard, but not trans-fats such as shortening.  Pork fat appears on menus of some great restaurants in the form of pork belly and at Husk in Charleston to make the Pork Butter spread for bread and cornbread.

But as with all ingredients, all lard is not alike, I use lard rendered the old-fashioned way without hydrogenating.  The main ingredient, and therefore most important is the flour. I use Southern Biscuit® Flour milled by Midstate Mills for the very lightest biscuits you can find these days.  There is no substitute to starting with the best flour to make the best biscuits. Then there is buttermilk, I always use whole buttermilk – we are lucky to find it in larger grocery stores.  If you don’t have it combine buttermilk with a few tablespoons of heavy cream.

Then find a great quality country ham, your favorite – I love Benton’s Country Ham in Madisonville, Tennessee.  If you haven’t tried this ultra smoky ham, it is worth it to order it by mail.  It is used all over the country in fine restaurants.

Now you have the makings for a fantastic biscuit slider – worth the effort and delicious.

Hog Heaven Pure Lard Biscuit Sliders

Makes 8 biscuits.

2 cups Southern Biscuit Self-Rising Flour

1/4 cup pork lard

¾ cup full fat buttermilk

Southern Biscuit All-purpose flour

2 tablespoons butter, melted

8 slices cooked country ham

Preheat oven to 450˚F.  Lightly spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Measure flour into a large bowl.  Cut in lard using a pastry cutter, two knives or your fingertips until the pieces are the size of peas.  Stir in buttermilk.

Dust a counter top lightly with all-purpose flour.  Turn dough onto surface and with floured hands fold the dough and press three times.  Roll dough to ½-inch thick.

Cut using a floured 2-inch biscuit cutter.  Place on baking sheet about ½-inch apart.

Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned.  Brush tops with butter.  Fill with cooked country ham.  Serve with mustard if desired.

Rosemary Olive Oil Biscuits

“Olive oil in a biscuit? Yes, a touch of olive oil with fresh rosemary gives this a biscuits a fresh flavor that you will enjoy with Italian meals. Best of all, these biscuits are much faster to make than the more traditional yeast breads. “

~ By Tendabake

  Ingredients:

• 2 cups  Southern Biscuit Self-Rising Flour
• 1 teaspoon  finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 2/3 cup  milk
• 2 tablespoons  olive oil

Cooking Instructions:
Heat oven to 450°F. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper.

Combine flour and rosemary in a large bowl. Stir in milk and olive oil until the flour is moistened. Do not over mix.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Shape dough into a ball using floured hands. Handle the dough as little as possible. Press dough to flatten slightly and fold in half. Repeat 3 or 4 times.

Pat or roll dough to ½ inch thickness. Cut with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. Place on prepared pan close together but not touching.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and brush the tops with olive oil if desired.

Zydeco Biscuits: Spicy Benne Seed Biscuits

The word for the style of folk music known as Zydeco is French for “the snap beans aren’t salty”. The phrase indicates hard times because there was no money for salt. Rather than austere, these spicy biscuits are named for the lively Louisiana music and their word for sesame seeds – benne seeds.

You don’t have to be a fan of washboards and accordion music to enjoy these biscuits. Midstate Mills makes real Southern Biscuit® Flour which strikes the right note for making perfect sandwich biscuits. We stuffed them with pimento cheese, but feel free to use your favorite filling or none at all.

The inspiration for the use of lard in this recipe is my personal favorite Zydeco song – “Everything on the Hog is Good” (along with the fact that biscuits made with lard are delicious). However, feel free to use shortening if you would prefer.

Makes 18 to 20 biscuits.

2 cups Southern Biscuit® All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cayenne
1/3 cup lard
½ cup toasted sesame seeds
½ cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 425˚F.

Combine Southern Biscuit All Purpose Flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne pepper. Cut in lard using a pastry cutter, two knives or your fingertips until pieces are the size of peas. Stir in toasted sesame seeds and buttermilk.

Dust a counter top lightly with all- purpose flour. Turn dough onto surface and with floured hands fold the dough and press three times. Roll dough to ½-inch thick.
Cut using a floured 2-inch biscuit cutter. Place on baking sheet about ½-inch apart.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Brush tops with melted butter.