Sweet Potato Biscuits

September has been declared "National Biscuit Month."  God bless those who came up with such a celebration!  Biscuits to us in the Southern US are, what scones are to the English.  Hardly a day goes by that someone in my home declares their need for a fresh, hot, biscuit.  I have to confess, I don't always have time to make homemade hot biscuits everyday.  Especially, on busy weekday mornings  before my husband heads into the office and I'm preparing to shuffle my little boys off to school.


Most mornings I find myself rushing to the car with my travel cup of hot tea in one hand, juggling my purse, keys and cell phone, and helping my little boy put his backpack on, with the other hand. My third hand closes the door to the house, while my fourth hand reaches into my purse to grab a tissue to wipe a runny nose, and my fifth hand opens the car door for his grand entrance. So, needless to say, I'm usually minus the dusting of flour that always comes along with making biscuits. ☺

I usually make homemade biscuits on the weekends, when I can enjoy the creative process of baking something from scratch. Sometimes we'll have biscuits for breakfast, and sometimes for dinner. They're almost always more than just flour, buttermilk, and shortening, although, there's not a thing wrong with that combination. When the crisp, cool mornings remind you that Fall is well on the way, these sweet potato biscuits will hit the proverbial "spot." 


For the biscuits you'll need:
2 cups self rising flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 stick of cold butter
1/2 cup cooked and pureed sweet potatoes
1/2 cup heavy cream plus add'l to brush the tops
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.  Cut in the cold butter using a pastry blender or your food processor until it resembles cornmeal.


Mix together the pureed sweet potatoes and cream in a separate bowl.


  Add to the dry ingredients and mix just until moistened.


Turn onto a floured board and roll or pat about 1/2-3/4 inches thick. Use a floured cutter and cut into the desired size.  I used a 3 inch biscuit cutter. 


Place onto the baking sheet about 2 inches apart and brush the tops with additional cream.


Place into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.  Serve hot with a slice of country ham or honey butter. Yield: 8 3 inch biscuits



Cook's note:
For the sweet potato puree, I baked two sweet potatoes at 375 degrees for 50 minutes, then cooled and peeled.  I pureed the pulp, and froze the extra, for a future batch of sweet potato biscuits.