Sweet Potato Biscuits

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Sweet Potato Biscuits

Did you guys know that such a wonderful thing even existed? They do indeed, and they’re as wonderful as you’d imagine. They are pretty much a food group here on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, and it is where I was first introduced to them. After years of enjoying them, I thought it was high time I passed the recipe along to you guys!

It’s your basic biscuit dough with the usual suspects – flour, buttermilk, flour. But then you invite some pureed, roasted sweet potatoes to the party. It adds great flavor and color, and also some additional moisture. Which is always welcome in a biscuit!

They aren’t quite as fluffy as your standard buttermilk biscuit, just because the addition of the sweet potato adds some density too… but, what they lack for in fluffiness they more than make up for in deliciousness.

I like to serve them with a bowl of soup, or just plain with some jam or pumpkin butter. But, our favorite way to enjoy them is sandwiching a few pieces of ham. Very thinly sliced country ham is a treat, but more often than not it’s just plain deli ham. It makes for one delicious and easy meal – for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

Sweet Potato Biscuits

1 cup sweet potato puree, chilled*
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
6 Tbsp butter, cubed
2 Tbsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl combine the sweet potato puree and the buttermilk. Whisk to combine, set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Pulse several times to combine well. Add the butter, and continue to pulse in 2-second increments, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized pieces (about 5 pulses). This can also be done using a pastry blender or 2 forks if you don’t have a food processor.

Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl, pour the sweet potato mixture over it, and use a fork to mix for about 1 minute, or until the dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, knead with floured hands, and pat into a rectangle about 6×10 inches and 1-inch thick.

Fold the dough like a business letter (the rightmost third over the center third, then the left third on top). Turn the dough a quarter of a turn, pat it into another 6×10 inch rectangle, and fold it upon itself in thirds again. Repeat one more time, then pat the dough into a 6×10 inch rectangle a final time.

Using a floured 2 inch biscuit cutter, cut the biscuits from the dough and place them about 1 1/2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Pat the scraps into a 1-inch thick rectangle and cut more biscuits.

Brush the tops with half the melted butter, and bake 15-20 minutes, or until the tops are just beginning to brown. Brush the tops again with the remaining butter and serve warm.

* To make the sweet potato puree: Pierce one 12-ounce sweet potato in a few spots with a fork and microwave at high power for about 10 minutes or roast at 350° for about 1 hour, until tender. Let the sweet potato cool slightly, then peel and puree in a food processor.

Source: adapted from The Lee Bros Southern Cookbook and Food & Wine, Nov 2013

Homemade Oyster Crackers

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Homemade Oyster Crackers

Oyster crackers. They are probably something you don’t even think about, unless you’re ordering a bowl of clam chowder or crab soup. Usually, we’ll just use broken-up pieces of saltines for a crunchy bite to top our soup with – but yesterday I was feeling particularly ambitious!

Turns out they were super easy to make, requiring only a few ingredients. The hardest part was cutting and transferring all the little squares to the baking sheet. And that little amount of work totally paid off, the taste and texture was about a million times better than you’d find in the store-bought crackers.

In fact, we loved them so much, it’s got me thinking about what other crackers I can make here at home!  I know these would be great with additions thrown in as well, like fresh (or dried!) herbs. Or even just a little bit of black pepper. Will definitely be making these again!

Homemade Oyster Crackers

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/3 cup cold water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse about 10 times, until the flour resembles a coarse meal.

Place flour into a medium size bowl and add water, using a rubber spatula to work the flour into the water. Place on a flat work surface and knead dough until it comes together into a ball.

Set dough on a lightly floured work surface and cover with a clean kitchen towel, allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Roll dough out on a well-floured surface to a 1/8-inch thickness. Cut dough into 1/2-inch squares and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake until crackers are just starting to show color around the bottom edges, about 15 minutes. Turn oven off and crack oven door, let crackers sit in oven for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Crackers can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

Source: adapted from Serious Eats

 

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

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Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Have I mentioned enough times how much I love this little stretch of land that we call home? Sure we love the ocean, and the bay, and the abundance of fresh seafood that comes with both. But you know what I love more than anything? Our community. Good people and great events are always just right on the horizon here on the Eastern Shore!

One event we always look forward to is the suborbital rocket launches out of Wallops Flight Facility. For the past few years our little corner of NASA has been launching resupply missions to the International Space Station, one recent launch (LADEE) even went to the moon! They don’t go that often, a few times a year – but it’s always so exciting for us. We have many friends and family who work at the base, so to say that I’m proud that these folks are launching things into space is kind of an understatement.

Last night we had a catastrophic failure, the rocket exploded about 6 seconds after liftoff. I’ve never seen anything like it, and never hope to again. Thankfully, no one was injured…which, is just a testament to how wonderful our folks at Wallops are.  But, the facility is destroyed. All the work that went into the launch, and the scientific experiments on board – just gone. Wallops will rebuild though, and most certainly relaunch! But please keep our small community in your thoughts and prayers.

So, the cupcakes. I baked these to take to our PTA’s Annual Pumpkin Walk. Families and local buisnesses carve pumpkins to display on one of our nature trails here on the island to create a spooky and fun walk to raise some money for the PTA. They of course have a bake sale as well, so I baked these to donate to the cause. We got to the walk about 30 minutes after it started, and they were already gone – definitely a hit!

I used my favorite vanilla cake recipe, then added some chopped apples, caramel sauce, and fall spices to the batter. Then topped them with a caramel cream cheese frosting. Holy moly, were they good! The spices were not overbearing, allowing the fresh flavor of the apple to really shine through. And I loved having the tender chunks of apples in the cake as well. I’ll most certainly be making this one again and again. I think it would be great as a 9-inch layer cake too! Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
16 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature (2 sticks)
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup caramel sauce

For the Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. block cream cheese, room temperature
12 Tbsp butter, room temperature
4 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup caramel sauce
pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk together and set aside. Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, until light and creamy in color. Add in the sugar, and beat for 2 minutes more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for one more minute.

For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar until incorporated. 10 seconds, until evenly combined. Frost cupcakes as desired.

Mix in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Combine the buttermilk and the vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated. Add in the apples and caramel sauce and mix until incorporated.

Divide the batter between the prepared paper liners, filling each about 2/3 of the way full (you will likely have batter left over after filling 24 wells.) Bake 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Replace paper liners and bake remaining batter if desired. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar until incorporated. Then add the vanilla, caramel sauce, and a pinch of salt. Mix for 10 seconds, until evenly combined. Frost cupcakes as desired.

Drizzle with additional caramel sauce if desired before serving.

Baked Vanilla Berry Oatmeal

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Baked Vanilla Berry Oatmeal

Nothing is more comforting on a crisp autumn morning that a bowl of warm, homemade oatmeal. Driscoll’s Berries asked me to participate in their Berries & Oats celebration this month, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share this recipe that has been a favorite in our home for a couple years now!

It’s filling and delicious, not to mention super easy to throw together. The warm flavors of vanilla, brown sugar, and cinnamon are combined with oats, milk and cream to form the base of this breakfast – then the additions are pretty much left to your creativity…

I like to add some nuts for a little crunch, and usually I’ll throw some fresh berries into the mix. I love the burst of freshness and color that they lend. But, other additions like apples or peaches are great too. I think it’s fun to create seasonal twists, and this recipe makes it so easy!

I hope everyone has a great weekend. After our trip to the mountains last weekend, I’ve got some work in the kitchen with apples on my agenda for the weekend. Boiled cider and apple cider caramels are on the to-do list.

It’s also Homecoming in our small town tonight, our football team is undefeated this year! So, we’re walking down the street to the parade, then heading to the game tonight to cheer the team on. I think the boys will really enjoy themselves. Go Chincoteague Ponies! We’re so lucky to call this little island home. 

Baked Vanilla Berry Oatmeal

1 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, lightly toasted, divided
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream or half & half
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2-3 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced ½-inch thick
2/3 cup blueberries
2/3 cup raspberries

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish.

In a medium bowl, combine the rolled oats, brown sugar, half of the nuts, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir with a fork to combine. In a liquid measuring cup, combine the milk, cream, egg, butter, and vanilla.

Spread the sliced bananas in a single layer over the bottom of the baking dish. Top with half of the berries. Sprinkle the dry oat mixture over the fruit in an even layer. Pour the liquid ingredients evenly over the oats. Sprinkle the remaining nuts and berries over the top.

Bake for about 40 minutes, until the top is browned and the oats have set. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Source: adapted from Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson via Annie’s Eats