’Tis the season for squash once more. A favorite (year-round) baked good of mine are these flavorful biscuits; with a hint of fall harvest and no sweetener they make a lovely pairing with sweet or savory beverages/soups. I have a slight preference for them with butter and jam (raspberry) with tea. Generally about two hours of baking, mixing, and prep work, but I am slow and unfocused!
Ingredients:
2 cups mashed butternut squash (1 standard size butternut squash, uncooked)
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 tbs of baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
½ cup butter, sliced
Process:
Prepare the squash:
Preheat oven to 350º and grease a baking sheet.
Slice squash lengthwise and remove seeds and inners.
Place flat side down on a greased baking sheet.
Cook for 30–45 minutes or until a butterknife inserts and removes easily.
Scoop two cups of squash from skin into shallow pan.
Using a potato masher, mash the squash to a uniform-ish consistency.
Place pan in freezer to cool.
Prepare the dough:
Preheat an oven to 400º F and grease a baking sheet or 10-12” cast iron skillet
Place dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix together with fork or whisk.
Cut in sliced butter using a pastry blender until it is roughly pea-sized.
Take squash from freezer and mix into the flour mixture with a sturdy wooden spoon.
Stir to create a soft dough; when most of the dough is cohering, dump out of bowl onto lightly floured surface and pull together with floured hands, gently working the dry flour into the wet dough. Use a pastry scraper if necessary.
Once all cohered, fold the dough over onto itself three or four times, but not too many (as this makes a stiffer biscuit) and pat down into a flat round shape that is roughly 1/2 inch thick.
Dip a biscuit cutter into excess flour and use to cut round biscuits, placing them gently onto the greased baking receptacle. Avoid twisting the cutter as this seals the edges more and results in less rise†
Reshape dough once it can no longer fit the biscuit cutter. Repeat the flattening and cutting process until no dough remains.
Cook at 400 for 15-20 minutes (can depend on cooking implement (cast iron versus aluminum) and oven.
They are done when lightly browned and the tops bounce back when they are pressed with a finger.
Enjoy warm, with butter or jam or soup or tea.
Substitutions, Downgrades*, & Upgrades*:
~ If short on butternut squash, other similar style vegetables could be used, e.g. sweet potato, acorn squash, delicata squash, etc. Canned pumpkin will also do in a pinch and cuts significant time from the process!
~ To go dairy free, use Earth Balance in place of butter.
~ To go gluten free, any measure for measure gluten free flour blend should work; my preference is what ever is cheapest or King Arthur’s
~ If lacking a round biscuit cutter, acquire a used steel can (beans, pumpkin, soup, etc) and after washing it out cut the bottom off, Voila! Round biscuit cutter! Note that cups or glass jars that don’t have an air escape at the top can be hard to press firmly into the dough; they also can create a small vacuum and the air compresses the dough, leaving a slightly slanted top to the biscuit; not the end of the world but can be avoided with the aforementioned can hack.
*these are entirely subjective!
† this is entirely hear-say, but sounds good and maybe I have experienced it. . .
Featured Image: hot and ready to eat biscuits fresh from the oven.
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