sweet potato biscuits

clearly i love biscuits. never one to resist testing out a new twist on my beloved bread product i was excited to do a test run of these guys just in time for thanksgiving. i am happy to say that they passed the test and come thursday i will be whipping up another batch (or two). the main reason i wanted to test these before the big day is because the recipe calls for gluten-free flour. i wasn't sure if there was a reason for it or just so that the biscuits are gluten-free. so i decided to test run with regular all purpose flour...nothing against gluten free but if i don't have to buy special flour i don't want to. good news gluten lovers, these turned out great! they are delicious on their own with just a hint of sweetness. however, keeping with our friday night breakfast theme we used these to make sausage egg* biscuits.

i made minor changes to make these vegan and also i would say that the nuts are optional. if you have them, sure, toss them in but i don't think i'd miss them if they weren't there. i plan to leave them out on thanksgiving. if you want to see the original recipe it's here, below is my version (and with instructions for us non-microwave, non-(large) food processor having folks). oh also, the original recipe claims 16 biscuits from this recipe...those would be 16 small biscuits, i got 10 using my 3 inch biscuit cutter.

happy thanksgiving everyone!

sweet potato biscuits

(from bon appetit, november 2010)

ingedients:

1 large red-skinned sweet potato (yam; about 1 1/4 pounds), pierced with fork

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour plus additional

2/3 cup yellow cornmeal

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled margarine, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup almond milk mixed with 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar to curdle

1/4 cup maple syrup (i ran out and used 1/2 maple 1/2 agave)

1/2 cup pecans, toasted , chopped (optional)

preheat oven to 425°F. line baking sheet with parchment.

first you need to bake your potato. when the oven is hot put the potato in until cooked all the way through (about an hour depending on the size of your potato). when it's done take it out and cut it in half and scoop out 1 cup of the flesh. mash it well and let cool

in a large bowl, mix together the flour, cornmeal and baking powder. cut in the margarine until you have a coarse meal. add the potato, milk mixture and syrup and mix until combined (i would recommend using your hands for that bit) add nuts (if using) and mix again.

sprinkle dough with flour. pat dough so that it's about and inch thick and cut into biscuits. transfer to baking sheet. bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15 minutes.

*SO amazingly yummy. we used tempeh sausage crumbles from vegan with a vengence and omelet rounds from vegan brunch.

-d

flakey biscuits

kris and i started doing friday night breakfast for dinner (ok so this is only the second time, but there are many more to come!) and tonight was biscuits and gravy. oh biscuits how i love them. they're flakey, they're buttery and they're so easy you can whip them up to accompany a week day meal. everyone should have a simple biscuit recipe on hand, this is mine. it's a super simple recipe that you could easily dress up by adding herbs and spices should you wish. oh and if you're curious, we made the mushroom gravy from vegan brunch. yum.

flakey biscuits
ingredients:
1 1/2 cup nondairy milk (i've used soy and almond and both worked great)
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup cold margarine
1/2 cup cold shortening

preheat oven to 375. in a small bowl mix together milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle.

in a large bowl mix flour, salt, baking power and baking soda. add the margarine and shortening in small clumps and cut into to flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

make a well in center and add milk. use your hands to mix the dry ingredients into the wet (it's more fun with your hands) the dough should be sticky (add more milk/flour if needed). turn onto a well floured surface and fold dough into itself a few times. roll out to 1 1/2 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter/cookie cutter/drinking glass/what have you.

place on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with milk.

bake 12-14 minutes until golden.

bonus! if you don't want to eat all of these at once you will be happy to know that they freeze, pre-baked, really well. you'll just have to add a few minutes to the cooking time and you can have fresh biscuits all week!

-d

scallion biscuits with cracked coriander

it seems that every time i see a biscuit recipe i am compelled to make it. this time, i set out to bake the ramp and buttermilk biscuits from the april issue of bon appetit but ramps were nowhere to be found so i used scallions instead. i also made some slight changes to make them vegan. these didn't rise as much as some biscuits i've made but they still had a delightful buttery flake in the layers. the cracked coriander on top also added a nice little crunch...and a nice little flavor.



scallion "buttermilk" biscuits with cracked coriander(adapted from ramp and buttermilk biscuits with cracked coriander, bon appetit, april 2009)
ingredients:
3/4 cup chilled soymilk
3/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup thinly sliced scallions (white and green parts)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons chilled unsalted margarine, cut into pieces
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, cracked*
olive oil (for brushing)

preheat oven to 425°F. mix soymilk and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside to curdle (about 5 minutes).

mix curdled soymilk and scallions in small bowl.

in a medium bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. add chilled margarine and cut into flour mixture until fine meal forms. add soymilk mixture; stir until dough forms.

turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and press out to 7-inch round, about 1/2 inch thick. using 2-inch-diameter biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out rounds. gather dough scraps; press out to 1/2-inch thickness and cut out additional rounds. transfer dough rounds to baking sheet. brush biscuit tops with a bit of olive oil. sprinkle with cracked coriander seeds.

bake biscuits until golden brown, about 20 minutes. cool on rack. serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

*according to bon appetit, the easiest way to crack the coriander seeds is to put them in a plastic bag and roll over them with a rolling pin.

-d