Sweet Potato Biscuits
Little orange clouds of goodness. Not your typical biscuit recipe.
Ingredients
- 390 g flour
- 24 g baking powder approx. 1 1/2 tbsp
- 6 g salt approx. 1/2 tbsp
- 26 g sugar
- 188 g sweet potato puree
- 57 g lard or coconut oil
- 184 g buttermilk or coconut milk
Instructions
Make sweet potato puree:
- Boil whole sweet potatoes in salted water for about 30-45 minutes. Depending on the size and heat source it may take longer. They are done when a butter knife pierces all the way through with no resistance.
- Cool, peel, and puree until smooth. The remainder freezes well for at least a year.
Make biscuits:
- Preheat oven to 450 F. Combine dry ingredients. Separately, mix the lard, sweet potato puree, and buttermilk until smooth. If the lard is too cool to emulsify, first microwave it a few seconds just so it melts.
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, just as you would muffin or cookie dough, being sure to combine everything but not overwork the gluten too much. Adding the fat along with the wet ingredients is what makes this biscuit recipe a little odd, but somehow it results in the perfect soft & crumbly biscuit texture.
- The dough will be spongey and won't stick to your hands. So pinch off 45-50g pieces and place close but not touching on a greased sheet pan, or arrange in cast iron skillets. Resist the urge to try to smooth and shape them at all, you don't want to deflate the gas pockets one bit. All irregularities will become a crumbly, browned crust surrounding the fluffy interior.
- Bake at 450F with convection fan turned on if you have one for about 15 minutes. I like to leave them in until they're a little bit brown on top and just barely toasted on the bottom.
- Cool completely and they will keep for a few days at room temperature, but don't refrigerate biscuits or they will go stale. Alternately, serve warm right away with slices of country ham, apple butter, homemade cheese, molasses butter, chili jam... or whatever your jam. I sometimes crumble them on top of a soup or salad like toasted breadcrumbs or instant croutons.
Notes
A tasty vegan version can be made simply by substituting coconut oil for lard and coconut milk for buttermilk. These have an addictive coconut-sweet potato flavor combination that is incredible with Indian-inspired dishes, chutneys, and Thai curries. It makes for a colorful, comforting, unexpectedly-vegan side dish at potlucks.