I’m a big McMuffin enjoyer, but I grew up in a sausage biscuit family. We’d get them from McDonald’s every Christmas morning (because they were open), but the best sausage biscuits came from the gas station (which is also where you’ll find the best fried chicken). It is, after all, a simple sandwich, best purchased from a simple place, a place that doesn’t put up with any nonsense. All you need is a tender biscuit and a well-seasoned sausage patty. No lily gilding, no gimmicks.
This is all to say that I definitely did not, under any circumstances, need to waffle a sausage patty into a round of store-bought biscuit dough. No one was asking for it—it’s almost disrespectful! But I did it anyway, and I’m glad, and I’d do it again.
The resulting waffle is savory, greasy, meaty, salty, crispy, tender, and, if you drizzle it with maple syrup, sweet—a near perfect, if slightly unhinged, bite. The grease from the sausage permeates the dough beneath, infusing it with salty pork fat. The bottom fries up golden and crisp, while to top stays ever so slightly doughy and tender, thanks to the steam (and even more grease) released by the sausage as it cooks.
Photo: Claire Lower
It is, as with most of our waffled treats, easy to make. Grab a tube of store-bough biscuit dough, remove a single round, and place a 1/4-inch thick slice of sausage on top of it. (I chose the Jimmy Dean hot sausage that comes in a 1-pound chub.)
Set your waffle iron to medium-low heat (so as not to burn the bottom of your biscuit), place the fatty stack in the center, and close the waffle maker. Cook for about 5 minutes or so, rotating the disk halfway through for even browning. (The portion near the hinged end of the waffle maker always cooks a little faster.)
Cook until the waffle is a dark golden brown on the bottom and the top has lost its raw dough stickiness. Remove from the waffle maker, plate immediately, and serve with syrup; it pools in the divots in the most delightful way. You could also slide an egg on top, but be warned: You will need a nap—or maybe a cigarette—afterward.
