These biscuits are something else, you guys.
I did not grow up with biscuits, in fact here in Australia, a biscuit is a cookie. But now that I know and love these feather-light disks of butter and flour, there’s no turning back for me! They are most like Australian scones, but more decidedly savoury than our most-often sweet scones. I know in the US, scones are usually very sweet, most likely with a glaze or icing. Here in Australia, they are sometimes savoury, but rarely, and the sweet ones are super sweet, but we serve them with masses of jam and whipped cream, in the English tradition.
WOW – this is confusing.
But it’s not really important. What’s important is that these Biscuits? They’re something else.
I was inspired to make them by Steph’s most recent recipe at Girl vs. Dough, for Pumpkin and Cranberry Twists. Go on, go check em out, I’ll wait…
Didn’t they look great? Well, I was so impressed by how much thanksgiving-ness (another thing we don’t have in Oz) she had crammed into them, that I was inspired to do the same. And yes, I know it’s still October, and yes, I know we don’t celebrate thanksgiving, but damn it all, I don’t care!
Because once the idea had struck, of making the perfect little bread to go along with your thanksgiving dinner, I couldn’t let it rest. I still had some sweet potato puree left over from when I made these Vegan Sweet Potato Doughnuts, so I knew I wanted to incorporate that. I knew I wanted a biscuit that was robust enough to stand on it’s own, so I added savoury rosemary, the perfect compliment to turkey or ham. And I knew that I wanted there to be a little of that “secret ingredient” magic that Thanksgiving is all about, so I swapped out half the butter for cream cheese.
People, these were good decisions.
Not only did the house smell AMAZING while they were baking, but the finished biscuits themselves were awesome. Just. Awesome.
They had an earthiness from the sweet potato, which was perfectly offset by the tang of cream cheese. They were as buttery and flaky as a dream. They were tender and moist and a little crisp, and all scented with rosemary. They were like all the best elements of a thanksgiving dinner crammed into a biscuit. And that means that I did what I came here to do.
I hope you try these; I would be so honoured if I actually made it to someone’s real thanksgiving table with them. They totally deserve to be there! They are a friend to all thanksgiving dishes, and all those who are giving thanks.
But if not, they are the perfect friend to go alongside a plate of scrambled eggs, a bowl of hot soup, any roast dinner, or like I’m doing right now, just split and buttered as a snack. Try ’em out!
xx Sarah.
Sweet Potato, Cream Cheese and Rosemary Biscuits
An original recipe by Sarah Coates for The Sugar Hit
Makes 9 perfect biscuits, with enough scraps for an extra weird looking one.
note: Some of my lovely readers have had some trouble getting the biscuits to rise up nice and tall. First, I would say, test your baking powder and baking soda, as these guys go off way faster than you think. Second, don’t overmix the dough, or pat the biscuits dough out too flat before you cut them, keep it at least 2 inches thick, and remember this only makes 9 biscuits. Finally, if you’re still worried, you can always use self rising flour instead of plain, or throw in an additional teaspoon of baking powder. Happy biscuit making!
INGREDIENTS
2 cups (300g) plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb (baking soda)
1 stick (100g) salted butter
4oz (100g) cream cheese
1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/2 cup buttermilk, plus extra for brushing
1/2 cup sweet potato puree
Preheat the oven to 200C. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, butter, cream cheese and rosemary. Using a pastry cutter, or two butter knives, cut the butter and cream cheese into the remaining ingredients until the mixture is pebbly, with some large chunks remaining (see picture above). In a small bowl, stir together the buttermilk and sweet potato, and then add this to the flour mixture, and stir together using a butter knife until the mixture is almost combined.
Dump the shaggy dough out onto a floured surface, and quickly and firmly press or knead it together until it forms a soft dough. The less you handle the dough, the better. Pat the dough out into a 2 inch thick piece and cut the biscuits using a 2 inch cutter. I cut out 5 biscuits, patted the dough back together, and cut the next 4. The remaining dough I just press into a ball, and bake as a cook’s treat. Place the biscuits on a lined baking tray, brush the tops lightly with buttermilk and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. You MUST eat one warm with butter when they come out of the oven. You MUST.
They definitely ARE something else. Flavour combination sounds divine, sweetness from the sweet potato, tangy saltiness from cream cheese, and the hint of fragrance from rosemary- YES PLEASE! Gorgeous blog too, your graphics are too cute- thanks for dropping by mine so I could find yours.
My pleasure!
Dear Sarsa,
I use pumkin and dried cranberrys
Oh my, this looks delicious!
Yes – These would be perfect accompanying some soup! I’m always making soup this time of year and looking for new bread recipes for side dishes… can’t wait to try them out!
I learned about how scones and biscuits are kind of reversed in US and abroad…so funny! Yes, these are like our biscuits, but our scones are not just sweet biscuits, they’re somethign else entirely- more dense. Anyhoo….these sound so yummy. I love rosemary!
never made biscuits before, but this recipe makes me want to really try. they look so delicious, and the pictures are really amazing.
What golden and delicious looking biscuits!
These are making me salivate – agree with above soup comment.
Oy. it was love at first sight for me with these on Instagram and they’d sooooo be welcome at my Thanksgiving table. Unfortch, the family isn’t adventurous enough for rosemary! Boo!
BOOOO! Ah well, more biscuits for us!
OMG these look TOO GOOD to be true! Holy smokes, I can’t wait to make these! GENIUS! Perfect for thanksgiving also!
WHY thankyou! I love your blog!
Gah, these are gorgeous! These would be perfectly fantastic for Thanksgiving, or anytime really. I easily see these with slabs of turkey, goat cheese and cranberries sauce sandwiched in between.. I’m suddenly starving!
YES! Me too, all of a sudden!
These look wonderful! Thank you for sharing your delicious recipe. Can’t wait to try it!
I have never had a biscuit here.. the last time I had it was a year ago in the USA! boo!
BOOOO, too good to miss out on! Make them yo’self gurl!
I made some pumpkin biscuits and I think I ate like four of them straight out of the oven. They are so good!
Tell me about it!
Oh wow — these look unbelievably rich and flaky. I love that you used both cream cheese AND butter in these. Too good to be true!
You are defintiely invited to trek it to NYC for my thanksgiving!! And if not, I vote you totally have a T-Day feast in Oz. Because why not.
These biscutis are going to be making an appearance in my life probably on a weekly basis from here on out. Whoa. So. Good.
At first I was all, “Oh daaaaaaaang, i love these thanksgiving-y biscuits!” and then i saw that you were inspired by those pumpkin twists. Yay! :) We need to live closer so we can have fun Thanksgiving carbload times together!
Oh gosh, like Thanksgiving wrapped up into one biscuit? I’ll take like 6 of them right now.
These look amazing!
Your recipe came at the right time! I was looking for something new to try with sweet potatoes and biscuits sounds like a great choice. And my husband loves fluffy warm biscuits!
I’ve never made pumpkin biscuits but I’d love to. They look like they’d be perfect with a Thanksgiving dinner. I also wish we celebrated Thanksgiving! xx
I can’t believe that I have never made biscuits before! This looks SO good!
Sarah, I am going to make you an honorary American! I’m pretty sure you love American food and traditions more than half the people in this country do. Plus, these biscuits would pretty much guarantee you an invitation to any Thanksgiving dinner. Love them!
Just discovered your website, Amazingness followed.
Love sweet potato and baking so am definitely trying these.
I am ALL ABOUT the sweet potato content on your blog right now. Just popped over to look at those vegan sweet potato doughnuts, they look so good! So basically some sweet potatoes are gonna go in my oven soon, then into some biscuits and doughnuts and my stomach is gonna be super excited about it!!
I am oh-so making these for brunch tomorrow. NOM.
This sweet potato trend that’s going around is just making my day! I have always loved sweet potato in everything and anything so this really speaks to my soul…my fat, chubby soul!
Also, I watched that Joy the Baker show that you tweeted about and I have to say that the idea of making 700 cookies scared me a little bit lol.
But I did like the way the head baker was so chilled about everything, even when Joy made an oopsie.
How good was Joy’s show? I doubt the head baker is so chilled usually, though! Gotta make the donuts!
Your biscuits will be on my Thanksgiving table this year! Thanks for the recipe!
These look amazing and just what I’m looking for this thanksgiving! Thank you for sharing. Can the dough be made one day ahead of time and if so do you suggest putting the little prepared biscuits in the freezer or refrigerator and do you recommend brushing them with buttermilk in advance as well or right before baking?
Hi Gina,
The dough can totally be made in advance, and I would freeze these little babies on a tray before packing them up into a freezer bag. Then, just brush them with buttermilk and bake from frozen, adding an additional 5-10 minutes onto the bake time.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Sarah
Made these for thanksgiving in protest of those nasty store bought rolls someone always seems to bring. They were delicious and a huge hit…though mine didn’t fluff up very much . :(
I’m glad everyone liked them! That’s a bummer they didn’t rise too much, though. Baking powder goes off pretty quickly, maybe that was the problem?
yeah I’m thinking that was it. I baked them at my parents house and my mom doesn’t bake as often as she used to so its possible that it was expired. they were more like really dense mini pancakes. lol
At least they were tasty! Still, I’m bummed for you! I wish I could ship you a batch!