By Genevieve Ko
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus cooling
- Rating
- 4(241)
- Notes
- Read community notes
For an easy, savory breakfast treat, browned sausage and sage are folded into biscuit dough that’s cut into squares. A generous grinding of black pepper in the mix and on top adds a bit of kick. The flaky biscuits are delicious on their own or stuffed with eggs: Scrambled, fried or poached are all great, but so is egg salad. If you’d like, you can garnish the biscuits with whole sage leaves. Simply brush the unbaked squares with a little melted butter, gently press on a sage leaf, and brush the leaf with a little more butter before baking.
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Ingredients
Yield:20 biscuits
- 12ounces fresh pork breakfast sausage, bulk or in links
- ½teaspoon neutral oil
- 3cups/385 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dough
- 1tablespoon baking powder
- ½teaspoon baking soda
- 1teaspoon kosher salt
- ½teaspoon black pepper, plus more for sprinkling
- ½cup/115 grams cold unsalted butter, cut into thin slices
- ¼cup chopped sage leaves
- 1¼cups buttermilk
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (20 servings)
173 calories; 10 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 5 grams protein; 236 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Put the sausage in a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet. (If it’s in links, squeeze it into the pan, and discard the casing.) Turn the heat to medium and cook, stirring and breaking the sausage into tiny bits, until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. If the sausage sticks to the pan, add ½ teaspoon neutral oil. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. You should have a scant 2 cups cooked sausage bits.
Step
2
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step
3
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper.
Step
4
Add the butter and toss to coat with the dry ingredients. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, press and cut in the butter until coarse crumbs form with some peanut-size pieces remaining. Toss in the chopped sage and sausage until evenly coated. Add the buttermilk and mix with a fork until no dry bits remain and mixture forms a mass.
Step
5
Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out onto it. With lightly floured hands or rolling pin, pat or roll the dough into an 8-by-10-inch rectangle (about ½-inch thick). Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into 2-inch squares. Put on the prepared sheet, spacing 1 inch apart.
Step
6
If the dough has softened, refrigerate or freeze until stiff. Brush the tops of the dough squares with butter and press a sage leaf onto each. Grind pepper on top.
Step
7
Bake until well risen, and the edges are just beginning to brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Step
8
Cool on the pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature, wrapped in a napkin to eat out of hand.
Tip
- The cut and garnished dough can be frozen for up to 2 days before baking straight from the freezer. Increase baking time by 5 minutes or so. The baked biscuits will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven or toaster oven until heated through before serving. The biscuits can also be frozen after cooling, then transferred to freezer plastic bags and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw and then reheat in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes before serving.
Ratings
4
out of 5
241
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Cooking Notes
doclshouse
For those who rarely use buttermilk and have leftovers after making this recipe, buttermilk freezes great. Portion out what you need for another batch of biscuits or cornbread, freeze it, and thaw when you are ready to make the next batch.
Liza
Loved these, very flavorful. Most of them are in the freezer for later consumption. I thought there was too much black pepper in them when mixing then with the added on top, but they turned out fine. Pet peeve why can't I buy pints of buttermilk in the market... smallest is a quart so I either waste it or have to use a substitute...grrr.
Kirsten
I never buy buttermilk, just add lemon juice or vinegar to milk, and let sit for 5-10 minutes. It has the same effect!
Liza
Also meant to say I would probably make fewer, larger biscuits next time so it's a little easier to make a breakfast sandwich with them.
Amit
This wasn’t the easiest thing to pull off, actually. You need to really be VERY careful to not over-knead the dough (which happens easily), and you need to also ensure your sausage pieces are not actually bits, but chunks. This also seriously lacked in flavor. I would next time add cheddar and scallions, as well as a tiny bit of sugar and a little smidge of cracked red. Think this recipe is just ok as is. Could be way better with several changes.
JM
For those bemoaning wasted buttermilk: A home ec teacher told me to freeze leftover buttermilk in 1 cup measures for future recipes. Thaw before using. This has changed my baking life.
Nicki
Shaped and cut mine out (in larger triangles) and left on a wrapped baking sheet in the fridge overnight. Took them out while oven preheated and buttered the tops. Baked as directed and they were great for Christmas morning! Nice and flaky!
nadyne
Add chopped bunch of green onions (white and green parts separated), 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms, and 1 tablespoon chopped serrano chili. Stir the white parts of the onions, mushrooms, and chili to the sausage while it’s cooking. Add the green parts of the onions to the dough at the same time as the chopped sage. Like others, I made them bigger for use as breakfast sandwiches. 20 minutes at 425 was perfect for them.
Scott
Suggestion for leftover buttermilk: add a couple splashes when making soft scrambled eggs - rich and delicious!
Sue
Very tasty. Cooked the sausage the night before and cut the dough into 9 pieces, which gave a good size for a breakfast sandwich. You can also substitute plain yogurt for the buttermilk, thinned with a little milk.
Laura
Loved these! Perfect way to use sage from our garden. Will leave sausage in slightly larger chunks next time and make fewer, larger, biscuits as others have suggested.
Brucie
You also can buy dried buttermilk for cooking.
Would Rather Cook From Scratch
Made this with a gluten free 1:1 flour blend and they were fantastic.
JM
For those bemoaning wasted buttermilk: A home ec teacher told me to freeze leftover buttermilk in 1 cup measures for future recipes. Thaw before using. This has changed my baking life.
doclshouse
For those who rarely use buttermilk and have leftovers after making this recipe, buttermilk freezes great. Portion out what you need for another batch of biscuits or cornbread, freeze it, and thaw when you are ready to make the next batch.
betts
Made these pretty much as written but portioned into 12 biscuits, gently rolled into balls and baked in the iron skillet that I sautéed the sausage. 425* for 23 minutes. Definitely worth making again
Nicki
Shaped and cut mine out (in larger triangles) and left on a wrapped baking sheet in the fridge overnight. Took them out while oven preheated and buttered the tops. Baked as directed and they were great for Christmas morning! Nice and flaky!
Eva
I used Beyond Meat sausage links to make these but the "meat" got a little too chewy after baking. Next time I will break the sausage up and add it without cooking it first.
Samara Rafert
I used a mix of Greek yogurt and milk (what I had on hand, though I usually just add lemon juice or vinegar to milk) and added a tablespoon of sugar to the dry ingredients for a little sweetness, based on some similar biscuits at a coffee shop near me. They turned out great.
Bridget
Per others’ suggestions I added some shredded sharp cheddar. I also added chopped rosemary. A little dry on their own, but would make a tasty base for an eggs Benedict, or for an egg sandwich if I made them a little bigger. Has anyone added maple syrup to this recipe?
Linda in Virginia
Buttermilk can be frozen. Just get the frozen milk out to thaw a few hours before you need it. It doesn't defrost a well as I would like in the microwave.
Emily R
So easy and so delicious! What a treat!
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