Breads,  Breakfast / Brunch,  Sides,  Thanksgiving

Pumpkin Biscuits

November 13, 2011

A basket of freshly baked biscuits are always a welcome, special treat.  I’m no Southern gal nor was I raised on biscuits but through the years I came to like making mine with self rising flour.  Since I’ve been on a pumpkin kick, I thought I’d add in pumpkin  puree replacing the buttermilk I would normally use.  I didn’t want these to be overly pumpkin “pie” tasting, so I only lightly added some cinnamon and nutmeg.  And since I do prefer using more whole wheat than white flour, I substituted in 1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour instead of my normal 2 cups of self rising.

Preparing biscuits to be served hot takes a bit of planning ahead but it’s so worth the small effort.  If you’ve been following along with my preparations, I do like to plan ahead!  Regardless if this was to be served at Thanksgiving or just a small dinner party or brunch, I still like to prep the dry ingredients along with cutting in the butter ahead of time, up to one day ahead and store in a glass container in my frig.  Since all the ingredients when making biscuits should be cold, prepping it ahead ensures that.

The next day, in the morning or several hours ahead of time, I add the wet ingredient, in this case the pumpkin, which by the way, I had measured out the day before and stored it in the frig also.  I knead  and cut the biscuits and place them on the baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake.  I’m kinda a neat freak, cooking and cleaning as I go so when I prep in this manner, I can clean up as I go along and when my guests arrive it’s only the baking sheet I’m bringing out.

I was really excited with the taste of these biscuits.  Not sweet, but just enough to balance the pumpkin flavor.  I couldn’t find my biscuit cutter so I used a leaf cookie cutter.  Just don’t use a glass or dull object as it could compress the sides of the dough not allowing it to rise flaky.  Also, try to not over work the dough and pat the dough into a circle, as a rolling pin ends to compress it.

Pumpkin Biscuits

1 1/2 cup self rising flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup turbinado sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled

1 cup canned pumpkin puree, chilled

2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing tops before baking or 1 beaten egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a mixer with the paddle attachment, or large bowl with a pastry cutter, or your finger tips in a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, spices and salt and mix to combine.  Add in the chilled butter pieces and quickly mix until the butter is thoroughly cut into the flour, resembling coarse meal.  Add in the pumpkin and stir to combine.  Turn the dough out onto a floured board and gently knead, adding a bit more flour if sticky and folding the dough back over itself a few times to create flaky layers.

Pat the dough into a circle and use a biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits.  Depending on the size of the cutter, this will make about 8-10 biscuits.  Place the biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate for one hour or up to 12 hours covered with plastic wrap.  When ready to bake, brush the biscuits with either an egg wash of one beaten egg or melted butter.  Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and set.  Serve hot.

These biscuits are part of my Thanksgiving Countdown.  If you’d like to share your biscuits for Thanksgiving, please use Linky Tools below.

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I love being in the kitchen. Early mornings, soft music, a hot espresso. Easing into the preparation of delicious meals. Glancing through cookbooks, gathering inspiration and planning my day. I look forward to the cycles of the seasons, the pleasures of tasting and savoring and sharing this with those dear to me. Weekends are special to me as my week days are often rushed, but still I create the ambiance, light the candles, set the table and uncork the wine.

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