Last summer my son spent a couple of weeks at an overnight camp that had a Parents’ Day — I told you a little about it back in July. We headed out there one Saturday for a potluck; I think we took wraps. First we had to trek out to the camp fire pit area where the kids sang some songs. One of the songs was about how much they love the sweet potato biscuits at camp. It struck me as odd, having never eaten a sweet potato biscuit before, but I figured I would make some sweet potato biscuits when he got home as a little camp remembrance – then never got around to it until now.
When I went to Girl Scout camp at his age, the food was really awful, so he was lucky to have quite a crew of cooks onsite. He was the only kid in his tent that was not vegetarian, to give you an idea of the variety of dishes they made.
Tony modified this recipe from his Sprouted Grain cookbook (pg. 76).[1] I can’t say that the herbs really stood out, so I would add 2-3 instead of just one, but the biscuits themselves were much more impressive than regular biscuits. If you’re doing biscuits for any holiday dinner, I’d definitely recommend them. They do not have an intense sweet potato flavor, if you’re worried about anyone who doesn’t like sweet potatoes.
Now my son is reading the novel Things Fall Apart in his English class, and yams play a large role in the story. The families in the story mainly plant, harvest, and eat yams, so they are a symbol of wealth. We’re going to make the biscuits again so he can take some to school for the class, although they will be day-olds, because I’m not super-mom enough to get up and make them before work.
Herbed Sweet Potato Biscuits
1 lb sweet potatoes (or yams), or a 15-oz can of puree
2 C sprouted grain flour
1 t dried sage, rosemary, or thyme
2 T organic coconut palm sugar (or brown sugar)
4 t baking powder
1/2 t sea salt
6 T butter
1/4 C yogurt
1/4 C water
1 egg yolk + 1 T water
1-2 dozen herb sprigs to decorate, optional (# depends on size of cutter)
Preheat oven to 425. If using whole sweet potatoes, pierce them all over with a fork, set on a cookie sheet, and bake for 1 hour. Cool slightly and spoon the sweet potato out of the skin into a bowl. Refrigerate to cool.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix flour with herbs, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter until it forms a coarse crumb mixture. Remove sweet potatoes from the frig and mix in the yogurt and water. Add the sweet potato mixture to the flour mixture and stir until the flour is incorporated and the dough sticks together. Refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough until it is 1” thick. Using a floured cutter, stamp out the biscuits and transfer them to the pan. Roll out the scraps to cut more biscuits.
Whisk the egg and water and brush the tops of the biscuits with the egg wash. You can decorate each biscuit with a sprig of herb if you want. Bake (at 425) 20 minutes or until golden brown. Put an extra baking sheet underneath if your oven tends to burn bottoms.
[1] Sprouted Baking with Whole Grain Flours that Digest as Vegetables, by Janie Quinn, Azure Moon Publishing, 2008.
