Splenda Recipes

Chocolate Gravy with Biscuits

It’s early Sunday morning as I write this.  Even though I am 35 now and would rather drink two cups of vegetable juice for breakfast, weekends still make me think of chocolate gravy.

I think this is one of those insanely unhealthy breakfast foods with which Southerners like to fatten up their kids.  I’m quite certain that chocolate gravy once or twice every weekend was the #2 reason (#1 being that I drank soda instead of water) I went from being skinny at the age of five to fat at the age of nine.  Thanks for the gravy, mom!

This version is still not particularly healthy, but it’s much less dangerous than the one I gre up with:

• 1/2 cup of Splenda
• 4 tablespoons of Hershey’s cocoa powder (or other unsweeted Dutch Process chocolate powder)
• 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1.5  cups of milk
• 3/4 stick of butter, cut into quarters

Before starting your gravy, pre-heat your oven for the biscuits.  Personally, I prefer buying biscuits in a tube, like Pilsbury Grands, but if you want to make your own, let me suggest Alton Brown’s Southern Biscuits.  Pop the biscuits into the oven at the same time you start cooking the gravy.

Start the gravy by cooking a roux.  This is when you melt fat in a saucepan, then cook white flour into it.  This accomplishes two things:  it mixes the flour into the fat so it won’t clump when you add liquid, and it cooks the flour to remove the raw flour taste from your dish.

Melt 1/4 of the stick of butter over low heat in your saucepan.  As soon as the butter starts to bubble, slowly add the flour, one tablespoon at a time, then whisk it into the butter it’s mixed.  This part might seen slow and tedious, but it really helps both the flavor and consistency of the gravy.  Continue to cook the roux over medium-low heat until it turns medium brown, about the color of a brown paper bag.  You can cook it a little darker to add more flavor if you like.

Once the roux has reached a color you like, remove it from the heat.  Off the heat, mix in the Splenda, cocoa powder, and 1/2 cup of milk.  Place back onto medium heat and whisk slowly until all solids begin to dissolve.  You should have a pretty thick paste starting to form.  Add another half cup of milk and another quarter stick of butter, then stir until you have a thick gravy consistency.  

As the mixture heats, add the rest of the milk just a little at a time, stirring it in thoroughly after each addition.  At this stage you are controlling the thickness of the gravy to your taste. Once you have achieved the thickness you like, cook until it you see the first bubble.

Remove from the heat, and serve over the fresh-basked biscuits.  Cut the remaining butter into tabs and place them on top of the gravy for a nice buttery garnish.

I hope you’ll one of my favorite Splenda recipes! 

For more great cooking lessons, take a look at The Cooking Experience, cooking lessons for the non-chef.