Sweet Potato Biscuits with Maple Butter

My sister-in-law and I were playing the classic game of "what's in your fridge/pantry" last week, followed by a round of "hungry, hungry, husband" and decided to win the game with a blowout we should combine resources and cook an amazing meal together.  Ingredients we had between us; corn, sweet potatoes, chicken and shredded cheese.  Interesting. 

About an hour and a half later, {and half a bottle of bubbly :)}we had a perfect roasted chicken with pan gravy, creamed corn with deliciously melting cheese {do I hear a new blog posting coming?....soon!} and these scrumptious sweet potato biscuits with maple butter that we kind of just threw together as we went, which is pretty much like candy on a cloud.

Score for the Wives = 100! 

Score for the Naked Fridge/Pantry = 0!

To make things simple for you, I suggest piercing the sweet potatoes with a fork, and roasting them in the oven for about 45 minutes, or pierce and throw them in the microwave for about 8.  Let them cool down a little, and then puree them up with a splash of the buttermilk you already will have out. If you want even  easier...use the canned stuff--it's actually pretty tasty!

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Ingredients for Sweet Potato Biscuits w/ Maple Butter

2 Cups All-purpose Flour

2 tsp Baking Soda

3 tsp Baking Powder

2 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar

Pinch of Salt

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg

4 Tbsp Shortening

7 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, Chilled and cut into pieces

1 Cup Sweet Potato Puree

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup Buttermilk, 2%

1/4 Cup Butter, melted

2 Tbsp Pure Maple Syrup

1 tsp Molasses, unsulphered

Sprinkle of Brown Sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°.

In a small bowl, stir together melted butter, maple syrup and molasses. Smooth over the top with a knife. Place in fridge to re-harden, about 20 minutes.  Remove from refrigerator and sprinkle brown sugar on top.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda & powder and pinch of salt.  Add sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, stir. Using a pastry knife or a food processor, cut together the shortening and butter with the flour mixture, until the mix resembles small crumbs.  Pour in vanilla and sweet potato puree.  Slowly stir in buttermilk until just mixed together.  Be careful not to over mix!!

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough gently for just a moment until combined and smooth. If too dry, add more buttermilk and if too wet, add a little more flour. Roll out dough with a rolling pin until 1/2"-3/4" thick.  Use a round biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits.  Place on a Silipat Mat {AMAZING!, but if you don't have one, just grease the pan.}, on a baking sheet, very close together.  Bake approximately 18-20 minutes. Tops should be crispy & golden, and the middle of the biscuit should be light & fluffy.

Serve warm, with maple butter spread all over biscuit.  Enjoy!

Makes 12-15 biscuits