Sweet Potato Biscuits



"Smell brings to mind... a family dinner of pot roast and sweet potatoes during a myrtle-mad August in a Midwestern town. Smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant land mines hidden under the weedy mass of years." ~ Diane Ackerman

Fresh Sweet Potato Biscuits and lemonade with frozen strawberries - perfect for a Spring afternoon on the porch!

I love this quote - many of my dearest memories are tied up in things like apple pie, chocolate chip cookies...and  biscuits.  When my husband, Mike, and I first started dating I heard an ear-full about his Mema before I ever had the pleasure of meeting her.  We recently lost our sweet  Mema and I find myself thinking about her biscuits for some reason.  Maybe because that was one of the first things my husband told me about, her legendary biscuits.  Upon breaking the news of her passing to one Mike's college friends, he smiled and told us how he always looked to Mike visiting his Mema because she'd send back trays full of biscuits.  Or perhaps it's because she made her biscuits the first time I met her.  We went to her little home where she made brunch for us and we ate on the very patio furniture I have pictured above.  Whatever the reason, I've been bitten by the biscuit bug!  I have a long way to go before they're even in Mema's ballpark, but here is my start - and where better to start than with a southern favorite, the sweet potato!

This biscuit has all the buttery goodness of a traditional biscuit with a wonderful twist.  The sweet potato lends a sweet and savory element to the biscuit.  It helps make the middle fluffy and moist with a great testure on the outside.  Not to mention the beautiful color is gives the dough!  Serve this hot out of the oven and try a little honey or cinnamon (or both!) butter.  This is a traditional southern "drop" biscuit so it will be very gooey and will bake more out than up, but that's ok. 

Soon I'll be posting a tutorial on how to make your own butter with lots of yummy flavor options so stay tuned!

(This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart's http://www.marthastewart.com/281529/sweet-potato-biscuits)

 

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, more for kneading and shaping
• 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup sweet potato puree, chilled
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

• With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter into flour mixture. 

• Mixture should resemble coarse meal, with some pea-sized lumps of butter remaining.

• In a small bowl, whisk together sweet potato purée and buttermilk; stir quickly into flour mixture until combined (do not overmix).

• Knead very gently until dough comes together but is still slightly lumpy, five or six times. (If dough is too sticky, work in up to 1/4 cup additional flour.)

• Drop about a 1/4 cup of dough onto a greased baking sheet or stone and brush with butter if desired and place pan on the oven rack on lower shelf.

• Bake until golden, rotating once, 15-20 minutes.