pumpkin biscuits

I know the saying is that necessity is the mother of invention, but I find, when it comes to cooking, that the pantry plays a pretty big role. From time to time, I take inventory just to see what I have and what needs to be used up. What gave birth to this recipe is the fact that I overbought on pumpkin purée over the holidays and I wanted to do something other than make a pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread. Since I have a good recipe for sweet potato biscuits, I thought pumpkin biscuits might be an option, but instead of just substituting one for the other, I did some searching for those who had already posted recipes (someone is always ahead of me) and then went from there. I found one here that gave me a good start, though it only used half a can of pumpkin, which meant I had to figure out what to do with the other half, so I adapted the recipe accordingly.

I made them this morning as part of our storm preparation.

pumpkin biscuits

6 cups (33 oz.) all purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1.5. cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin purée
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, and salt. Add the butter and break up the cubes as much as you can, coating them with the flour mixture. Then use your fingers (or a pastry cutter) and break up the butter in the flour until the whole thing starts to feel sandy. You should still have some pea-sized pieces of butter.

Make room in the middle of the bowl and add the pumpkin. It works best to use a fork when you stir it into the butter-flour mixture. Add the buttermilk and mix everything into a dough. Don’t overmix or knead it. You just want it to hold together. Dump it out on a lightly floured surface and roll it about a half an inch thick. I used a 3-inch biscuit cutter to cut the biscuits and then lined them four across on the prepared baking sheet. Reshape the scraps (without working the dough too much) and cut again. My recipe made 19 biscuits, which filled the baking sheet. Brush the tops with a little more buttermilk and put them in the oven.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes and then let the biscuits cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes when they come out.

You can store them in an air-tight container, should you have leftovers.

Now I’m off to see what else is in the pantry.

Peace,
Milton