The best jams, jellies and spreads to to dress up your biscuit
It’s not a biscuit party unless you dress up your biscuits. Biscuit traditionalists might argue that if made correctly, a biscuit is delicious on its own. And we agree. We love a plain buttermilk biscuit, but every once in a while, we want to add depth and texture to the flavor profile.
With a smear of jam or a drizzle of honey, you can transform a Southern biscuit into a savory or sweet snack perfect for breakfast, brunch or dinner.
Honey
As a natural sweetener, honey adds the right amount of sweetness without overpowering the salty and buttery flavor of a biscuit. Add a drizzle of honey on top of a biscuit or slice it open and drizzle honey on the warm buttered inside. Artisan honey makers are stepping out of the box when it comes to the flavors of honey they are producing. North Carolina-based Cloister Honey offers honey infused with flavors like bourbon, vanilla and chipotle pepper. You can add even more flavor by choosing an infused honey as a biscuit topping.
Sausage Gravy
Turn a plate of biscuits into a meal by smothering it in sausage gravy. When you think biscuits and gravy, a good sausage gravy separates the winners from the losers. In this gravy, instead of traditional milk, we like the richness that half and half gives the gravy. The added fat also keeps the gravy from separating when hot. The seasoning can be adjusted to your palate, but we think the black pepper should be the second-most pronounced flavor, behind the sausage, of course.
Mixed Berry Jam
Jam is a great way to add sweetness and fruit to your biscuit. This jam is made from a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or blackberries, and you can play around with the recipe to adjust the fruit mixture to your liking. The berries give the jam a bright and beautiful color that will pretty up your plate. Worried about the sweetness of the jam? Instead of adding a hefty amount of sugar like other jam recipes, this version utilizes a low and slow method to coax the natural sweetness out of the fruit.
Tomato Gravy
Savory toppings don’t get much better than this tomato gravy. Bacon fat, spices and tomatoes come together to create a colorful gravy you can ladle over fried chicken, rice or our favorite – biscuits. It’s almost a meal in itself. You can turn this into a vegetarian option by substituting butter for the bacon fat.
Pimento Cheese
You’ll find pimento cheese on most party platters in the South. This cheesy spread goes on just about anything and adds a decadent, peppery kick to whatever you dip it in. Use this spread to create a pimento cheese biscuit sandwich — it doesn’t get much more Southern than that, y’all.
Chocolate Gravy
Did you just die and go to heaven? Don’t relegate your chocolate to cookies or cake; biscuits deserve a chance to swim in chocolate, too. We’ve transformed chocolate into a thick gravy that is like a rich ganache. Customize the chocolate level by adding additional dark or milk chocolate after the chocolate gravy has thickened.
Apple Cider-Bourbon Jelly
Bourbon and biscuits are two Southern classics you wouldn’t normally put together — or would you? We’ve created a fruity jam that brings together the flavors of apple cider and bourbon in a new spread. Just like jam, jelly is easy to make at home; it takes time and patience to allow the fruit juices and liquids to reduce and concentrate. This jelly will be the talk of the town once you serve it on top of biscuits at your next gathering.
Fried chicken
One of our favorite Southern sandwiches pairs buttermilk biscuits with fried chicken. Why eat the two separately when you can layer them together and get one bite of goodness? If you have leftover chicken, take it off of the bone and add it to a warm biscuit for a great sandwich you can eat day or night.