Nothing beats the gravy on these babies! My hubby's response: "Yes, yes, yes!"

Cooktop Cove: Nothing beats the gravy on these babies! My hubby's response: "Yes, yes, yes!"

By Audrey Michels

Sometimes, all a recipe needs is some bacon. Unless we’re talking trendy food, like bacon doughnuts, it’s almost always a welcome addition to a meal ... especially a breakfast! And this biscuit and gravy breakfast has double the bacon: bacon in the biscuits and bacon in the gravy!

If you want even more bacon in your breakfast, consult your cardiologist. If it's a go, add some more chopped up bacon into the gravy itself, in the way you might traditionally use sausage for sausage gravy, to give this dish even more texture and, well, bacon.

Southern homemade cheddar biscuits with bacon and gravy

30 minutes

1 hour

6 strips bacon

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup cornmeal

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons milk

Reserved bacon grease

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups whole milk

1 1/3 cups beef or chicken stock

Freshly ground pepper

Preheat your oven to 425 F.

Place the uncooked bacon in a pan over a medium-high heat, and fry until very crispy. Remove from the heat and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Reserve the bacon grease. Once cool, chop the bacon up into very small pieces.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder, shredded cheese and bacon.

Create a well in the center of the mixture, and add the cream and milk. Use your hands to combine the ingredients, then, when it resembles a shaggy dough, turn it out onto a floured surface. Knead 2-4 times, until it just comes together.

Roll the dough out to be about an inch thick, and then use cookie cutters or a glass to cut out biscuit shapes.

Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and line the biscuits up on the sheet, leaving about an inch between each.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

While the biscuits bake, place 2-3 tablespoons of the reserved bacon grease in a heavy-bottomed skillet over a medium heat. Once warm, add the flour, two tablespoons at a time, stirring regularly, and waiting for the flour to disappear completely before making the next addition.

Add the milk in a steady stream, stirring constantly.

Once the milk is incorporated, stream in the chicken stock, whisking continuously.

Allow the mixture to simmer and thicken about 10-12 minutes. Taste for seasoning before serving over the biscuits.