Sweet Potato Biscuits

My kids hate sweet potatoes. I get around this by feeding them leftover sweet potatoes hidden inside these delicious sweet potato biscuits. We eat them plain with meals (since they already have half a stick of butter baked inside, why add more?) or I make little ham sandwiches out of them for snacks or lunch--no condiments required. I basically follow Paula Deen's recipe, but I've figured out a few shortcuts that make the recipe come together very quickly:

• I freeze leftover mashed sweet potatoes in 3/4 cup portions, then defrost them as necessary.
• I use Hudson Cream Self Rising Flour, which saves the steps of having to mix the dry ingredients together. This also resolves my reluctance to add 4 teaspoons of baking powder, which seems like a lot!

 Here is my modification of the recipe:

 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups self rising flour (more because other dry ingredients are already added)
• 2 teaspoons of sugar (Paula uses 2 Tablespoons, but I find that 2 teaspoons is enough for my taste. Don't omit the sugar entirely, as a small amount of sugar can enhance the flavor of a recipe)
• 3/4 cup mashed cooked sweet potatoes
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2-4 Tablespoons milk (if needed, depending on moisture level of sweet potatoes)

 

In microwave-safe bowl, defrost sweet potatoes. Add butter and microwave until butter is softened, about 35 seconds. Mix butter and sweet potatoes with a fork.

 

In a larger bowl, measure self-rising flour and sugar. Add sweet potato/butter mixture and blend with pastry blender to form a soft dough ball (I use my hand). Add milk if necessary.

 

Turn dough out onto a floured work surface, coat dough with flour and press into a circle about 1 inch thick. Cut biscuit rounds and transfer to a baking sheet. Reroll remaining dough to cut additional biscuits. Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Feed them to your unsuspecting, sweet-potato-hating children.

This recipe makes approximately 12 medium sized biscuits or 2 dozen mini buscuits--great for a party snack!