Herbed Sweet Potato Biscuits

Serve these delicious biscuits in lieu of dinner rolls for a special holiday treat!

Is there anything more comforting that a warm biscuit with melted butter? I think not, and if that biscuit is made with pureed sweet potatoes and infused with savory herbs – well, then you’re in for a real treat! Biscuits are always more special than dinner rolls but Herbed Sweet Potato Biscuits are in a league of their own. They’re soft, sweet, and subtly savory, and, when served warm with pads of butter nestled in their centers, they are heavenly.

The recipe for Herbed Sweet Potato Biscuits calls for the dough to be rolled out to a thickness of ½ inch which is on the thin side for a biscuit. Many biscuit recipes call for the dough to be rolled out thicker than this, but Herbed Sweet Potato Biscuits do not rise quite as much as a traditional biscuits (because of the sweet potatoes), so a thickness of ½ inch is perfect. Take a close look at the right-hand photo above.  See those small flecks of butter in the biscuit dough? When baked these bits of butter melt, producing pockets of steam that cause the biscuits to puff. This is the magic that makes for a tender, flaky biscuit.

The recipe for Herbed Sweet Potato Biscuits is pretty straightforward but just one tip – as you’re cutting the butter into the flour mixture, take care not to overmix. The dough should resemble course meal. Remember, you want some small chunks of butter throughout the dough so that your biscuits puff when baked.

This recipe yields a whopping 40 biscuits – enough for a large holiday gathering. You can make Herbed Sweet Potato Biscuits entirely ahead of time and freeze them to re-heat later or, if you’re a stickler for fresh-from-the-oven biscuits, simply freeze the unbaked dough instead. You’ll still need to roll, cut, and bake the biscuits, but it’ll be much less work than making the entire recipe from scratch. During the holidays your meal prep will benefit greatly from time saving strategies and make ahead dishes such as this one – so important when you want to spend as much time as possible with family and friends.  Hope your holiday season is off to a great start!

Herbed Sweet Potato Biscuits

 

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Author: QUEEN OF MY KITCHEN

Serves: 40 – 1½ ounce biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes
• 5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon herbs de provence
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled
• ½ cup milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork and wrap in aluminum foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 1 hour or until they can be easily pierced with a toothpick through the foil. (This can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour or longer depending on the size and thickness of the sweet potatoes. Start testing after 45 minutes.)
2. Once the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, remove the foil, peel/cut away the skin, and purée in a food processor until completely smooth. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, herbs de provence, salt, and cayenne. With a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the milk and sweet potato purée. Add to dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
5. Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Kneed a few times and roll out to a thickness of ½ inch. Using a 2½ inch round cutter, stamp out biscuits and place on parchment or silicone lined baking sheets.
6. Bake for a total 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time.

Notes

Adapted from Marth Stewart.

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