I’m snowed in today. I’ve always loved snow days. The world slows down a bit, gets quiet. Snow days always mean baking for me.
A few days ago, I mentioned on twitter I wasn’t sure what to bake next. If you’re ever out of ideas, turn to twitter, seriously, crowd-sourcing is the way to go. I got lots of suggestions, but sweet potato biscuits grabbed my attention (thanks, tim!).
I love sweet potatoes - probably more than your average person. I have them several times a week, in every different form, baked, roasted, as fries, I should have probably turned orange by now, but I’d never tried sweet potato biscuits before.
The biscuits are very mellow in flavor, and just a touch sweet. They go really well with the savory & flavorful caramelized shallot and sage butter I threw together.
What also would go great with these biscuits are the goodies in Eat Boutique's breakfast box. A couple of months ago, Maggie, the owner, asked me if I’d like to host a giveaway and I jumped at the opportunity to share this business with you. I’ve been a huge fan of Eat Boutique since it’s creation and I’ve loved watching it grow.
Eat Boutique is an online marketplace for handmade, artisanal foods. They create well thought-out seasonal gift boxes, full of handpicked goods. The one you can win today is the breakfast box, which will contain coffee, maple syrup (so good on biscuits!), and lots of other delicious things. (Yours may vary just a little from the one listed on the site.)
How to enter:
It’s simple. Just leave a comment here saying you'd like to be entered (I'll only count the ones that mention they'd like to be entered, since this is a US only giveaway. If you're not from the US but you'd like to comment anyway, feel free. ;).
Enter a second time by becoming a fan of Eat Boutique on Facebook, come back here and leave another comment saying you’ve done so.
Enter a third time by tweeting about this giveaway (be sure to include @honeyandjam and @eatboutique) and leave another comment saying you’ve done so.
No entries after 11 pm EST this Sunday, January 8th. US residents only. Winner will be picked at random and announced the 9th.
Sweet Potato Biscuits
From Martha Stewart
Makes 8
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and shaping
2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus 1/2 tablespoon melted butter and more for pan
3/4 cup Sweet-Potato Puree, chilled
1/3 cup buttermilk
Directions
Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, with some pea-sized lumps of butter remaining. In a small bowl, whisk together sweet potato puree and buttermilk; stir quickly into flour mixture until combined (do not overmix).
Shape the biscuits: Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead very gently until dough comes together but is still slightly lumpy, five or six times. (If dough is too sticky, work in up to 1/4 cup additional flour.) Shape into a disk, and pat to an even 1-inch thickness. With a floured 2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits as close together as possible. Gather together scraps, and repeat to cut out more biscuits (do not reuse scraps more than once).
Bake the biscuits: Preheat oven to 425 degrees, with rack on lower shelf. Butter an 8-inch cake pan. Arrange biscuits snugly in pan (to help them stay upright). Brush with melted butter. Bake until golden, rotating once, 20 to 24 minutes.
Caramelized Shallot & Sage Butter
1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, room tempature
1 shallot, finely minced
2 tablespoons sage, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small saucepan, over low heat. Add the shallot and cook until brown & soft. Let it cool completely.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter, shallot, sage and salt until combined.
You can place this mixture in a bowl, or scrape the butter onto a piece of plastic wrap, mold into a log shape and refrigerate.
The giveaway is now closed. Jacqui has won! Congrats Jacqui, your package is on its way!
