Love at First Bite: Sweet Potato Biscuits

I LOVE sweet potatoes. I always have and always will. All I need is a piping hot, baked sweet potato and a fork ...no butter, no brown sugar, no salt and pepper, nothing. It's the only food I can think of that is absolutely perfect on its own, no embellishments required.

Unfortunately, Bill doesn't agree with me. He's never liked sweet potatoes and thought he never would. So I decided to get a little sneaky.

I braised a brisket yesterday (which I'll get to in a day or so because it was a-maz-ing), and told Bill I was baking biscuits to go with it. I wasn't going to mention the sweet potato part because, seriously, what he doesn't know can't hurt him. I knew he'd figure it out when I put the plate on the table, or at the very least when he took a bite. But I figured keeping it quiet gave him less of a chance to put up a fight.

Then he walked into the kitchen while I was mashing the sweet potato. Whoops. There was no more hiding it - I had to admit to my scheme. Luckily he went along with it and he gave them a fair chance. Now for me, it was love at first bite with these biscuits. They're DELICIOUS! Bill agreed that they were good, but they didn't leave him looking for seconds.

This recipe came from the Mary Mac's Tea Room cookbook, which my good friend Sue brought back for me the last time she was in Atlanta. It's endorsed by Paula Deen, so you know it's got to be good Southern food. I absolutely must go here, especially if these biscuits were any indication of the deliciousness I'll find!

I should note that I cut the recipe in half, which should have produced (a reasonable) six biscuits. Instead, I ended up with ten. That leads me to believe that Mary Mac must make biscuits as big as your head. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Sweet Potato Biscuits
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes (baked)
1 tablespoon buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease baking sheet and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in butter (with a pastry cutter or two knives) until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Stir in mashed sweet potatoes (I discovered that the pastry cutter also works well for mixing these in ... and has the added advantage of giving you a smoother mash!). Stir in buttermilk until dough comes together in a ball (at this point, you're really pressing the dough against the sides of the bowl to ensure it all comes together).

On a lightly floured surface, press dough into a 1/2-inch thick circle. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out rounds (roll and cut the scraps until there's nothing left). Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.