Biscuits and gravy

I just couldn't resist attempting a low-carb, low-calorie biscuits and gravy recipe. Mission? Accomplished.


There they are, pictured with some eggs over medium that I drizzled liberally with hot sauce.

If you're watching carbs but not calories, you could probably make this even better by using full-fat pork sausage and heavy cream. But, with this leaner version, I still didn't feel like I was missing out.

The biscuits are made out of coconut flour, which is low-carb and high-fiber, plus it's very absorbent so you don't need to use very much. Don't worry, it doesn't taste like coconut. I used egg whites instead of whole eggs because coconut flour pastries need lots of eggs to hold together, and by the time I add enough eggs, they're yellow and look like corn muffins rather than biscuits. In fact, these are very similar to my mock corn muffins, except I also whip an egg white and fold it in to lighten the texture and make a fluffier biscuit. You could drop them straight on a pan, but they spread quite a bit so I prefer a muffin tin. Alternately, you could make almond flour biscuits (higher calorie). Also, this makes more than enough gravy so you could definitely double the biscuit recipe if you'd like.

Oh, and while you're here, please vote in my poll in the sidebar on the right hand side, and let me know what kind of recipes you'd like to see.

LOW-CARB, LOW-CALORIE BISCUITS AND GRAVY
Serves 3, with leftover gravy

INGREDIENTS

For the biscuits:

• 4 Tbs salted butter, melted (or use unsalted butter + 1/4 tsp salt)
  
• 1 whole egg, separated
• 3/4 cup liquid egg whites (NOT egg substitute, the color will be wrong)
• 1 Tbs unsweetened original almond milk (or cream)
  
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

For the gravy:

• 1 lb bulk breakfast sausage; either turkey sausage, extra-lean pork, or regular pork (I used turkey sausage)
  
• 4 oz reduced-fat Philadelphia cream cheese, softened (Philadelphia brand is lower carb than the other reduced-fat brands)
• 2 cups unsweetened original almond milk
• Coconut flour (about 2 Tbs)
  
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• Seasoned salt, to taste (storebought or homemade)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Whip the egg white from the separated egg to stiff peaks.
   
3. Combine the egg whites, melted butter, egg yolk, and 1 Tbs almond milk or cream. Add the coconut flour and baking powder and mix gently. Fold in the egg white.
4. Grease 6 cups of a muffin tin (I used Baker's Joy spray) and evenly distribute the batter. Bake for 20 minutes or until starting to brown.
5. Meanwhile, brown the sausage over medium-high heat, crumbling it with a wooden spoon. Do not drain, just add coconut flour a tablespoon at a time and stir until it has soaked up all of the drippings.
6. Reduce heat to medium, add the cream cheese. Kind of mash it against the bottom of the pan to melt it while combining it with the meat.
7. Add the 2 cups of almond milk, stir, and bring to a simmer. Evenly sprinkle the xanthan gum over the top, using a tea ball or sieve to sift it out (this will prevent clumping). Stir well and add seasoned salt to taste. Reduce heat to low to keep warm.
8. To serve, split the biscuits in half and spoon gravy over the top.

NUTRITIONAL INFO
1 biscuit: 119 calories, 9g fat, 2g net carbs (4g carbs + 2g fiber), 5g protein
1 serving gravy (enough to generously cover 1 biscuit): 101 calories, 7g fat, 1 net carb (2g carbs + 1g fiber), 8g protein

Posted in: breakfast,eggs,pork,pork/lamb