Saintly Sweets...

I've been perfecting my Sweet Potato Biscuit recipe since the beginning of the summer, so I took advantage of the Sunday Saints Brunch we hosted as one more opportunity to practice. These biscuits were in the company of a Caramelized Onion, Spinach & Gruyere Strata (a savory breakfast Bread Pudding of sorts), oven-roasted Hash Browns, Bacon, Vanilla-Almond Granola with Yogurt, and Shrimp Bisque. Spicy Bloody Mary's and Tangerine Mimosas started everyone off and we finished, crowded round the television enjoying Vanilla Meringues, Coconut Macaroons and sliced Peaches.

The Saints were defeated by the Redskins, 29-24 but the brunch was enjoyed by all!

NOLA Bean Sweet Potato Biscuit Recipe
Yields: 12 large biscuits or 24 minis (average)

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons Salt
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
4 ounce (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, cubed and cold
1 # Sweet Potatoes or 1 1/2 cups canned Sweet Potato puree
1/4 cup Buttermilk
2 Tablespoons Butter, melted (for the biscuit tops before baking)

Make Sweet Potato Puree: Roast the Sweet Potatoes on a foil lined sheet pan in a 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. The Sweet potatoes should be knife tender. Allow the potatoes to cool, peel and puree in a food processor. (This should yield 1 1/2-1 3/4 cups of Sweet Potato Puree)

Prepare Biscuits: In a food processor combine the Flour, Salt and Baking Powder, pulse 2-3 times to combine. Add the cubed, chilled butter to the food processor and pulse 5-6 times to cut the butter into the flour. Place the butter/flour mixture into a large bowl and fold the 1 1/2 cups Sweet Potato puree and Buttermilk in. You are looking for a soft, not too sticky dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to 3/4 of an inch thick. Cut into circles or squares with a floured knife or biscuit cutter. Place on parchment lined sheet pan, spacing them 1/4 of an inch apart. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and refrigerate the biscuits on the sheet pan for 15-20 minutes. Brush the biscuit tops with the melted butter and bake the biscuits in the preheated oven, for 25-3o minutes rotating the pan halfway through the cooking process.