At our house, it’s all about the biscuits
If I had to pick a single food that’s been a common thread throughout my life, it would be biscuits. Growing up, my dad made a lot of soups and stews using the wild game he’d hunted or the wild mushrooms we’d foraged. Some of them were good and some were, well, nourishing. I wasn’t a fan of gamey venison or piney spruce grouse but it’s what was on the table and it was by all accounts, nourishing. To sweeten the deal when we were having venison or grouse my dad always made a pan of buttermilk biscuits which we’d slather with butter and drizzle with honey before dunking in our soup. My first job was at Hardee’s where at age 14 I got up well before the sun on Saturdays and Sundays to, you guessed it, make the biscuits. That was back before they came pre-baked and frozen in a box. I actually had to measure the flour, baking powder, soda and salt then use my hands to work big hunks of shortening into the flour before rolling out the dough and cutting the biscuits with a round metal biscuit cutter. It was my dream job. Just me and the radio and the meditative work of measuring, kneading, cutting and baking. No crabby customers to deal with – just pounds and pounds of fluffy, glutinous dough. Shortly after I met my hubby in Alaska I made the mistake of whipping up a batch of homemade buttermilk biscuits to serve alongside the clam chowder I’d made after a day of digging littleneck clams in Kachemak Bay just outside of Homer. I say mistake because I was still playing hard to get. I didn’t need a man (or so I thought). Little did I know that buttermilk biscuits were his kryptonite and that after one bite he’d be hell bent on getting me to marry him and stopping at nothing (such as hitchhiking across Alaska with a pint of homemade fireweed jelly he’d made…just for the biscuits). <– No lie Fast forward to our days in Montana when after pulling together every dollar we had we bought a $25,000 fixer-upper. Soup made from homegrown veggies and local meat was cheap and so were big bags of locally milled flour for biscuits. And then came babies. My daughters ask for biscuits all. the. time but the problem is that we no longer ‘do gluten’. So I had to find a way to 1) make a damn good buttermilk biscuit without gluten, and 2) add some redeeming health properties to the starchy, white gluten-free flour used to make them.
Thus, the Gluten-free Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuit was born and everyone at my house unanimously approved
The star of these lightly sweet and incredibly tender biscuits is truly the ingredients not my gifted biscuit-making hands as my husband would have to you believe. You just can’t make a biscuit worth it’s salt without really good butter and buttermilk. Trust me, I’ve made a lot of biscuits in my life. Which is why I was thrilled to partner with our friends at Kalona Supernatural and use their Organic Cultured Buttermilk and unsalted butter for this recipe. Kalona Supernatural is committed to helping small midwest Amish and Mennonite farmers make organic farming a viable lifestyle. And they’re committed to the providing the highest quality organic, non-homogenized, low-temperature pasteurized dairy products from grass-fed cows. Now that’s a company I can really get behind.
If you’ve never made a biscuit in your life, now is the time. These Gluten-free Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuits are quite forgiving and easy enough to whip up a batch on a weeknight for the soup or stew you’ve had simmering in the slow cooker all day. And they’re a great way to use up leftover baked or mashed sweet potato (or canned pumpkin).
Buttermilk makes them better
Sure, you can technically substitute milk + an acid such as lemon juice or vinegar to get ‘sour milk’ to use in place of buttermilk in a recipe but let me say this, it’s not the same. I’ve tried it countless times, even making two batches to compare the buttermilk with the milk + acid and have found that hands down, the buttermilk biscuits are always better. They’re just more tender and the tang from the naturally cultured buttermilk is subtle and almost buttery in nature. Which, when we’re talking biscuits is a big deal.
Don’t be surprised if there aren’t any leftovers
Every time I make a batch of these Gluten-free Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuits I double (or triple) the recipe – especially if we’re having company. Once they’re baked and cooled your can wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and store in a zip-top bag in the freezer so you have some on hand for another day. They make great little breakfast sandwiches when topped with a slice of ham, a fried egg, fresh spinach and a slice of tomato. You can also freeze them from the unbaked state on a baking sheet then transfer them to a freezer-safe storage container or bag. Just remove what you need from the freezer, place on a baking sheet and allow to rest at room temperature while the oven preheats. You can either bake them once they fully thawed or even from a partially frozen state (just add a few more minutes to the baking time).
Now it’s time to slather, drizzle or dunk those gorgeous Gluten-free Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuits of yours!
Pssst….looking for that ridiculously creamy soup you see above? That’s our Slow Cooker Chicken Chowder and you’ll find the recipe here.
Do you have any favorite food memories? What’s your favorite way to enjoy biscuits? Share in the comments below!
Pin now to make later! Note: We have only tested this recipe with the listed ingredients and measurements, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to try a substitution, we would love to have you share what you used and how it turned out in the comments below. Thanks!
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