Beat This:
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Written By Ann Hodgman
print
comments
Whose Thanksgiving side dishes are better: author Ann Hodgman's or your mother's? Take on our ramped-up "Beat This" challenge and let us know.
Get the Recipe for Ann's Sweet Potato Biscuits
I only start to love the turkey when it's time to put it into a sandwich. At Thanksgiving dinner itself, it's a backdrop. A gorgeous backdrop, true, but never the first thing I eat. What I really pile my plate with is side dishes. And dessert, of course, but that comes later. I start with the best Brussels sprouts in the world. They're beautiful mahogany jewels — well, not jewels exactly, but not at all like the typical Brussels sprouts. They've been roasted until they're crisp and brown and deep-tasting. Then there's stuffing. People have strong opinions about stuffing, so I'm glad to settle all disputes: Mine is the best. Sausage, fresh thyme, apples and dried cranberries, and Pepperidge Farm stuffing — the only "mix" I allow in my kitchen. The battle over whether to use mini marshmallows in the sweet potatoes has destroyed many a family. I have the answer: my sweet potato biscuits. They're delicious. When my kids were little, it was the only part of the dinner they really looked forward to. And let me just say that I've perfected the recipe for mashed potatoes. But before I touch the sprouts, stuffing, biscuits, or potatoes, I have to remember to save room for the cranberry velvet pie . . .
I seriously doubt your recipes are better than mine. But I hereby throw down the official "Beat This" Thanksgiving gauntlet.
How To Enter: If you think you have an unbeatable recipe for sweet potato biscuits, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, stuffing, or a really great pie, send them to wondertime.editors@disney.com with "Beat This" in the subject line. All entries must be received by 11:59:59 p.m., October 31, 2008.
The Wondertime judges will test my recipes against yours and decide on one winner in each category. If I win, I'll be as braggy as ever. If you win, you'll get $100.
Of course there are a couple of rules. No previously published recipes or prepared mixes allowed. We're really looking for the best recipes. Not the most healthful, not the quickest, not the cheapest, but the best. There are plenty of other contests for cheap, quick, or healthful imitations of good recipes. We want the kind of food that people will force you to give up the recipe for, the recipes that make your family and friends thankful for what a great cook you are. To read the complete rules, click here.
Next: Get The Recipe for Ann's Sweet Potato Biscuits
Back to the Beat This:Thanksgiving Sides main page
Bonus! You can now log in to the Community site on Disney Family.com and join the Beat This: Recipe Challenge Group. Just log in with your Wondertime log in (or create a log in there if you currently do not have a log in name), and follow the instructions. Then you can share recipes, comment, join other groups and challenge everyone to Beat Your recipe!
The Best Thing to Do with Sweet Potatoes
Why add another soft brown dish to the table when you can make these delicious biscuits instead? They can be baked ahead and frozen, and you'll get way more points for serving them than you would for, say, those tubes of crescent-roll dough (not to knock those, though — they can be transcendent). You want something a little different for Thanksgiving, right?
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Makes 16 biscuits
Ingredients:
2 to 3 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Heat oven to 400. Scrub sweet potatoes, prick them in several places with a fork, and microwave them until tender, at least 10 minutes. Carefully slice them in half, scoop the hot flesh from the skins, and add to a mixing bowl along with the butter. Using an electric mixer, whip together potatoes and butter until well combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in sugars, salt, and spices. Let the mixture cool for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile stir together flour and baking powder in a medium bowl with a fork. Add flour mixture to potato mixture and use the fork to combine well. You may have to knead the dough by hand a bit at the end. On a floured surface, roll out or pat the dough into an 8-by-8-inch square about 3/4 inch thick. With a sharp knife or square biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out 2-inch square biscuits. (Making them square means you can use all the dough in one go, rather than rerolling it.)
Place the dough squares 2 inches apart on a baking sheet that has been greased or lined with parchment. Bake until they're golden brown on the bottom and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 15 to 20 minutes.
