The best way to describe these is gnocchi meets biscuit. They have a less flaky texture than a buttermilk biscuit, but the deep rich flavor of sweet potato makes them satisfying in the way that the best comfort foods are. The potato flavor works well with the slightly dense moist texture; providing an explaination of the texture as a logical potato element rather than a poorly made biscuit.
The flavor of sweet potato is deeply comforting to me. As a young child I lived in Japan and have memories of going on a school field trip to dig sweet potatoes. It seems like an odd activity thinking about it now, but it was quite thrilling as a first grader. I also recall buying baked sweet potatoes from street vendors that peddled around on bicycles pulling insulated carts filled with piping hot sweet potatoes. A steaming hot potato eaten out of hand was the perfect snack on a cold day. The smooth creamy texture and sweet earthy flavor is soul satisfying to this day. These biscuits took me right back to this memory.
The texture of the biscuits is very dumpling-like and really called out for a little sweet or spicy morsel of meat to be tucked in the center. I plan to experiment with this idea and try making some filled dumplings with this dough. Steamed verses baked would be another interesting experiment. I think this is one of the most interesting recipes the Tuesdays with Dorie group has made.
Dorie calls for canned sweet potatoes, but I had fresh that I simply microwaved until they were soft enough to mash. Like all biscuits I make, I used a food processor rather than mixing by hand as the recipe instructs. The most interesting thing about this recipe is the lack of cream, milk, or any other type of liquid. The potatoes act as the agent to bring all the ingredients together, though I must say my dough was extremely dry. This is possibly due to using fresh potatoes rather than canned, so I ended up adding a little buttermilk to get the dough to form a ball. I also added an egg wash to the tops before baking to give them a nice golden brown finish
Thank you to Erin of Prudence Pennywise for selecting the recipe this week. She has the recipe posted on her blog if you would like to give them a try. Be prepared for music on her site; if you are surfing while people are sleeping nearby, be sure to turn your speakers down before clicking over to her blog.
Over 350 baking bloggers are baking our way thorough Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking: From My Home to Yours . 96 recipes completed 125 to go!
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What a wonderful memory and story regarding your childhood….sweet potatoes ARE truly wonderful.
Your biscuits look great!
Your experiment sounds like it would be fun! i can’t wait to see the results if you do it. My dough was a little dry too…I ended up with flour spots!
I had no idea that sweet potatoes are popular in Japan. What a neat (and healthy) snack to buy from a bicycle vendor!
I skipped these but I may need to try them someday; they certainly sound interesting!
They look wonderful.
Mine were flat and bleh, but I think it has everything to do with the Sweet Potato you use.
Isn’t it nice to have such great memories.
Your biscuits look fabulous!
Am I missing something? I don’t see the recipe. I’d love to try these biscuits!
Click on “Prudence Pennywise” in the last paragraph of my post. That will take you to her blog, where the recipe is posted. The Tuesdays with Dorie group has permission from the book’s author to publish the recipes on the host blog site each week, so whoever picks the recipe posts it and the rest of us just link to it.