Chocolate Gravy

Chocolate Gravy

Chocolate Gravy

by Josh Beasley, President, Honest Abe Log Home

Chocolate gravy and biscuits is a regional dish in my area of Tennessee that’s most often served as an after-breakfast dessert or for brunch. Most people turn their nose at the thought when they’re first introduced to the dish, but once they’ve tried it their opinion quickly changes.
This recipe is a mixture between two very different approaches to making the dish. You see, I didn’t do my due-diligence very well 25 years ago as my wife comes from the other camp. Her grandmother always made a more traditional gravy – less sweet and less chocolatey, more flour and used milk. That dish eats more like a true gravy as well, with the more you can get the better. Growing up, my grandmothers made more of a syrup, though we still called it gravy. It had much more sugar, less flour, more cocoa and water was used in place of milk. This makes for a much more rich dish. It doesn’t take much on a biscuit to get all the sweet chocolate you need.
When my wife and I got married, we had an issue. I’ve always enjoyed cooking, and she never picked up her grandmother’s recipe (if there was one), so it was up to me to make the chocolate gravy. My version wasn’t what she grew up with. It was too rich and dark, and there was no creaminess. I tried making a more traditional gravy that didn’t satisfy either of us.
So through the years, I started adjusting quantities and ingredients to create this “meet you in the middle chocolate gravy” recipe that we now have. The milk and flour give it a creaminess, while the high sugar content and cocoa lets there be no mistake that you have a rich, chocolaty breakfast dessert. Enjoy!

 

Ingredients

    • 2 Cups Sugar
    • 2 Cups Whole Milk
    • 1/4 Cup Self Rising Flour
    • 1/3 Cup Cocoa Powder
    • 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
    • Pat of butter when serving over your favorite biscuits.
    1. In a medium saucepan, combine dry ingredients and mix well.
    2. Add whole milk and vanilla extract. Mix well. Should have a very grainy texture.
    3. Place over medium-high heat and stir continuously. Make sure to scrape the bottom and get the bottom edges of the sauce pan to prevent sticking. As the milk warms, the sugar will start to dissolve and the texture will become more smooth.
    4. Once you reach a boil, keep stirring! Gravy should start to thicken and rise in the pot.
    5. Reduce heat to medium or low-medium heat and allow to thicken to suit. If allowed to become too thick, the grainy sugar texture will return.
    6. Remove from heat, serve over fresh biscuits and a small pat of butter on top.

 

Christmas at the Cabin

by Josh Beasley, President, Honest Abe Log Homes

My passion for log homes was kindled within the warm atmosphere of a small country kitchen many years ago.

My aunt and uncle built their Honest Abe log home in the 1980s. Throughout my life, my family would make a very early morning trip each Christmas Eve to visit and eat breakfast. My aunt would be up well before the sun, preparing the most wonderful breakfast one could imagine.

From about five o’clock until past ten in the morning, family, friends and it seemed like the whole local community would come through their kitchen. They would eat, share stories and memories and celebrate the holiday with one another.

My aunt and uncle would juggle greeting everyone that stepped through the door, flipping pancakes, filling coffee cups and asking the grandkids if they were due a lump of coal from Santa or not.

That started it all for me. There was a lot of preparation, work, organization and functional needs that came into play to pull off such an event year after year. I’ve always thought it would make a beautiful Norman Rockwell scene.

Browse Our Log Home Floor Plans