Judy's Mama's Sweet Potato Biscuits

It's cold outside and so my mind turns toward one of my favorite cold-weather foods, my Mama's Sweet Potato Biscuits. This is a great recipe to keep in mind if you have leftover sweet potatoes.

Mama's Sweet Potato Biscuits

2 cups self-rising flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 cup margarine or shortening
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes*
1/3 cup PLUS 2 Tbsp. buttermilk**

Preheat over to 450 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with PAM or grease it the old-fashioned way.

Sprinkle the salt on the mashed sweet potatoes. Sift flour and cut in the shortening or margarine. Add sweet potatoes. Add buttermilk gradually until it's stiff enough to roll out but not too dry! If you add too much milk, make drop biscuits (which is what I always do, lazy me). Roll out on pastry sheet lightly dusted with flour. Cut with lightly floured biscuit cutter and pop them on the cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown.

*toss a large sweet potato into the microwave to cook if you're in a hurry. Clean it, then poke it a few times with a fork to break the skin. Wrap it in a damp paper towel and cook it until soft. You can also buy sweet potatoes in a can if you really want to. I don't care for them personally, but when used for cooking they are OK.

**If you don't have buttermilk you can add a little bit of lemon juice or vinegar to the milk and it'll work fine. If you don't have lemon juice or plain vinegar then try substituting plain yogurt or sour cream as either will work fine.

Some variations I've tried include mixing some sausage into the mix (or you can serve them with sausage). I've also added some sugar and made them a morning treat! Another great way to eat these is to cut them open after cooking, slather them with butter, sugar and cinnamon. Sweet potato cinnamon biscuits are the best!

Judy