World Peace through Sweet Potato Biscuits

If I was Secretary General of the UN, I’d launch an initiative to solve international conflicts via sweet potato biscuits. With any luck there would be a huge scandal that would go down in children’s history books as the “SPBs for Peace” (just go with it).

Although that seems far off in the distance, I figured I’d do my part now and give you a sweet potato recipe that is super easy, almost fail-safe (I’ll give you a few pointers) and delish. As well as some of the variations I enjoy. This recipe was originally from allrecipes.com; the original dough always tasted a little too..floury/baking powdery, and lacked the smooth, sweet, supple flavors of the sweet potato. So…with a few modifications of my own, here we go:

• 1 c flour (I like to use whole wheat, but all-purpose, white will do)
• 1 c mashed sweet potatoes (recommend yams, not canned yams though. And say that 10 times fast)*
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 T shortening (yes, that’s right. Crisco is still in business)
• 3 T milk

Strongly recommend:

• dash of each: chili powder, cinnamon and cayenne pepper — be careful with these you don’t want to overwhelm it, just draw some of the flavors out
• less than a dash of cumin,  just a lil sprinkle of cumin, nutmeg — again, just a wee bit, not enough to tell, just enough to deepen the flavors of the sweet potato

Preheat oven to 400. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and spices (remember–can always add more, harder to remove!). Cut in shortening until the pieces of shortening are pea-sized or smaller (so similar to a pie crust).** Mix in the sweet potatoes. Add just enough milk to make the dough soft, if needed. (Usually I don’t use the full amount of milk.) Taste your dough if you are using the spices. (I always taste it before I put them on the sheet; easier than tryin to put the flavor in after they’re cooked.)

I use the “drop method” for biscuits–I like the funky texture of their appearance. I also try to make smaller biscuits unless I plan on making them sandwiches. They do grow a little bit in the oven so make sure they’re about an inch apart. Bake for 12 minutes. Check, you may need a few more minutes, depending on your oven. Mine generally are 13-14 minutes.

Ta dah!

*I prefer yams to real sweet potatoes because the deep orange color of yams is prettier. I’m that shallow. For those of you who have never mashed a sweet potato or  yam, it’s like a regular potato. Often the larger ones will be enough to double the recipe which is great for parties! Ok, use a fork to poke lotsa holes in potato; microwave until soft enough to mash. Remove skin. Ta dah! Look, you can bake and/or them, and if you were eating a baked sweet potato, or boiled sweet potatoes, I’d tell you how, but you are mashing them and putting them into a biscuit. This may be the one time I tell you to use a microwave. That and to boil milk.)

Another thing. So I froze some sweet potatoes to see what would happen. I would say that is a terrible idea and not to do it. It absolutely ruins the yams/sweet potatoes, and the biscuits. Trust me on that one…

Ok, so my Uncle David asked “what’s your favorite way to eat these?” And I would say “That depends” I’ve been known to serve them at brunch or for dessert with a whisky caramel glaze that is wonderful.  I’ve made sammies with them (one of my fave things) using smoked country ham, sharp cheddar cheese, crisp apple, brown mustard and caramelized onion. I’ve made a yummy yogurt dip for them with greek yogurt, lime juice, cilantro, onions, garlic, salt and pepper–soo good. And then there’s the traditional butter (or making a brown butter with sage. Oh my goodness). Or with honey.  Any way is good, but I definitely prefer a little spice in the biscuits rather than just the plain. Again, the goal isn’t for people to say “wow, cinnamon!” But rather to feel like the biscuits have an added depth, dimension, mouthfeel to them. Let me know if you have questions!

24 Feb This entry was published on February 24, 2012 at 01:13 and is filed under BREAKFAST, cayenne pepper, chili powder, cumin, DESSERT, milk, sweet potato biscuits, whisky. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.