Chocolate Gravy

In the mountains of Appalachia, one of the preferred breakfast dishes is buttered biscuits with chocolate gravy. Goes back hundreds of years. Is a traditional treat especially around holidays. Great for Valentine's Day breakfast.

Ingredients:

• Homemade biscuits, if possible :-)
• 3 Tbsp. of butter
• 3 Tbsp. of flour
• 3 to 6 Tbsp. of cocoa depending upon how chocolaty you like it.
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups of milk with cream if possible. If not substitute at least 2 oz heavy whipping cream for part of the milk.
• dash of salt, dash of nutmeg
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Melt butter over low heat in a heavy cast iron skillet. Blend flour/cocoa/sugar. Add to the melted butter in the skillet stirring well. Slowly add the 1/4 cup hot water. Stir well to blend.

Pour the milk in a thin stream into the cocoa mixture stirring well to blend. Allow to cook over low heat stirring until gravy thickens. Remove from heat and add extra cream to blend.

Add salt to taste, dash of nutmeg, and the vanilla. Blend. Serve over hot, buttered biscuits.

This 'sauce' is also wonderful over ice cream, plain pound cake or served as a dip for fresh fruit.

Source: Handed down through the ages in Appalachian families.

By Nancy S. M. from Cross Lanes, WV

Answers:

Chocolate Gravy

Thanks so much for this recipe! I've missed this for a long time. I once asked my mother for the recipe but she said she didn't have one. She just tossed the items together and never measured. Of course, she learned it from her mother and it goes back through the generations like that. Funny, both my grandmothers also made it and each made it slightly different; yet theirs and my mom's were all good. I realized as a teen, it was just simply hot pudding but who cares when you can get chocolate for breakfast! LOL I do this with Lemon too tho chocolate reigns supreme here! LOL (02/12/2010)

By Dee Terry