The Best Biscuits Ever


Try Sweet Potatoes for a Twist


Roy Creekmore
Photo by Sophia Szeto

When I was growing up in the South, every cook had a biscuit recipe that was “the best biscuit recipe” ever. No one made average or just good biscuits. Each and every cook made the best. Following in this tradition, my recipe below is “the best biscuit recipe” ever.
    My mother taught me the basics, and my current recipe is a modified version that combines her concepts as well as those of several other cooks I knew growing up. I have taken the best of these originals and brought them up to date and improved on the technique.


SOUTHERN SWEET
POTATO BISCUITS

2 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour, preferably
    White Lily or Martha White brand
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons baking powder
6 ounces unsalted butter, chilled
1 cup cooked, peeled, mashed sweet
    potatoes or yams (preferably red garnet
    yams to give the biscuits a beautiful
    apricot color)
3⁄4 cup cold buttermilk

    Preheat the oven to 425˚ Fahrenheit with the rack in the middle position.
    Mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking powder) in a large bowl.  Working quickly, with a pastry cutter, fingers or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until pea-size lumps form. The butter should not be allowed to melt but rather stay in solid pieces.
    Add the mashed sweet potatoes, which should be at room temperature or even cold from the refrigerator, and the buttermilk. Stir with a fork until barely blended. Pour the mixture onto your work surface. Using your hands, quickly bring the mixture together, and, using a folding motion, work the dough over on itself repeatedly (about 10 times) until it holds together in one piece.
    Take a floured rolling pin and roll out the dough to 1-inch thickness. Use your favorite biscuit cutter, or other sharp-edged implement, to cut out the biscuits in a desired shape. Take the leftover dough and refold it and cut out the remaining biscuits.
    Place the biscuits in a baking pan, cookie sheet or cast-iron frying pan and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until slightly brown on top. Serve hot with butter, honey or your favorite jam. Makes 15 to 20 3-inch biscuits.             

ROY CREEKMORE


CHEF AND AUTHOR Roy Creekmore is a graduate of  Tante Marie’s culinary school. He is a former member of the teaching staff there. Creekmore has cooked at Postino in Lafayette and has a long career in the food industry as a caterer, chef and cooking instructor.