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Have you ever tried coffee gravy? I first tried it at a gluten-free restaurant in St. Louis and just loved it! It has that same richness that you get from the pan drippings in any gravy but it also has a slight bitterness from the coffee flavor (in a good way). Molasses can be used to ease the bitter flavor if that's not your thing but it really is the perfect breakfast topping.
Breakfast burgers have been on my list of recipes to make for a while now. Sure, maybe it's just a regular everyday breakfast sandwich re-titled as a burger but here's my thought process on the matter:
If you top a burger with a fried egg, it's automatically 110% better than a regular burger. Additionally, breakfast foods are the best food therefore, where burgers are wrong is that they're served at the wrong meal. They need to be served for breakfast. Makes sense, right?
To completely breakfast-fy the traditional burger, it's not enough to simply top with a fried egg. The patty should be made from breakfast sausage, the bun is replaced with a biscuit, and the condiment of choice becomes coffee gravy.
As for variations, if you're a burger traditionalist, you can of course stick with a ground beef patty. You could also top with bacon but I didn't because I don't really care for bacon on burgers. I'm also wondering how these would be using the bagels I just made instead of biscuits. I'll link to the bagels once the recipe is posted if anyone wants to try it!
Side note: I'm completely bummed that the gluten-free restaurant I mentioned is now closed. If anyone knows of any dedicated gluten-free restaurants in the St. Louis or Kansas City areas, let me know! The places I already eat at in KC are t.Loft and Minsky's. Minsky's isn't 100% gluten free but they have dedicated gluten free areas and equipment and the Blue Springs location's staff is very well trained on safe preparation of gluten-free foods.
Recipe

Breakfast Burgers with Coffee Gravy
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 6 burgers 1x
Ingredients
- 1 batch multi-purpose dough
- 1.5 lb ground breakfast sausage
- ½ C coffee
- ½ C beef broth
- ¼ tsp salt, plus more to taste
- ½ tsp pepper, plus more to taste
- 1 ½ tsp molasses
- 1 Tbsp tapioca starch, plus extra for rolling out dough
- 1 Tbsp cold water
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil, or other fat for greasing griddle
- 6 eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Roll out multi-purpose dough on a surface lightly dusted with some tapioca starch and cut out circles using a coffee mug. You should roll the dough thick enough to get 6 circles or 5 plus a 6th from the dough scraps. These will at least double in height in the oven.
- Place these biscuits on a baking sheet and bake 10-13 minutes. They shouldn't brown much but a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean when they are fully cooked.
- While the biscuits bake, form 6 patties from the sausage. Cook these in a skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally. To prevent burning, adding a small amount of water to the skillet and covering with a lid can help them cook more evenly. Once the sausage is fully cooked, leave the fat in the skillet but transfer the sausage to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.
- Keep the skillet of fat at the same heat and whisk in the coffee, broth, salt, pepper, and molasses. You can adjust the molasses more or less to taste if you want.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the tablespoon of tapioca starch and cold water. Allow the gravy to come to a boil then whisk this starch mixture in. Once thickened, you can remove from heat.
- Melt coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the eggs, one at a time and season with salt and pepper to taste. Allow the eggs to cook to your preferred doneness.
- To assemble the burgers, slice the biscuits in half and place a sausage patty and fried egg between each. You can either pour the gravy right on top of the sausage and egg or just dip the burgers into the gravy if you're low on napkins.
Great post and perspective!! I like your policy of packing food across the board, that seems like it would take so much pressure off of everyone. Gluten intolerance and food allergies can feel so socially isolating. And I know for a fact my family has not been invited to a few occasions because people just didn't know what to make (we have gluten intolerance/celiac, plus soy allergy, and now I can't eat grains anymore :P). I've always happily offered to pack, but I think instead of giving them the option, I will just say we're bringing our own food. Too many times we also have cross contamination issues anyway. One thing I try to do is when it's a pot luck style gathering, I offer to bring a dessert. My kids feel less deprived that way (and so do I!). People are always shocked when I tell them the dessert is grain free, which is cool. Also, I hear you on being labeled an extreme dieter. It's frustrating and awkward for sure. So excited to have found your blog, and I can't wait to try out your recipes!
Thanks for taking the time to share, Carissa! I'm glad to know somebody out there understands what I'm talking about ????
I like the point you make about packing our own food removing the pressure from everybody. Of course, that's easy for somebody like me to say who loves cooking. It really was the best option for me.
Also, I completely agree about the desserts! Grain free can get expensive but it really is the best option for pot lucks because you feel like you get to indulge a bit despite your dietary restrictions.