Butternut Squash Biscuits

Of all the pastries in the world, biscuits are in my top 5. Actually, they’ve been in the #1 position lately, with soup season fully in swing. I’ve been convincing myself that yes, while a plain old slice of whole-grain bread would be aspirational and healthy and perfectly acceptable, a (partially whole wheat) biscuit alongside the soup would be heavenly! After all, butter does make almost everything just a little better, and hey – the biscuits have yogurt in them. Healthy! (I tell myself.)

I credit/blame my discovery of the Yogurt Biscuit recipe in Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything with my rapid recent descent into biscuit obsession, which has gotten so bad that I’ve been planning meals around the possibility of their compatibility with biscuits. Bittman’s recipe takes all of 5 minutes to put together if you use your food processor; they’re foolproof, too, raising up up up while you stare at them through the oven window. Ahem.

For the latest batch, I added some mashed squash that I had leftover from another recipe, and I used half white whole wheat flour. They’re positively glorious warm from the oven, and would make a stellar addition to the Thanksgiving table.

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Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything

These come together really quickly and have a lovely tang from the yogurt.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour (I substituted half white whole-wheat flour)
1 scant teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 to 5 tablespoons cold butter (I usually use about 4), cut into bits
1 cup cooked pureed butternut squash (or other winter squash)
yogurt, between 1/2 and 3/4 cup depending on stickiness of dough (see directions below)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl or food processor. If you’re using a food processor, pulse the pieces of butter in until the mixture resembles coarse meal (or, if mixing by hand, rub the butter with the flour mixture between your fingers.) The butter should be thoroughly blended in before continuing.

Pulse the pureed winter squash (or mix it) into the flour-butter mixture. Pulse or stir in only as much yogurt as it takes to form the dough into a ball.  Usually for me this is a scant half cup, but it will depend on how moist your squash puree is. The dough should stick slightly to your hands.

Pat the dough out on a lightly floured work surface until it’s about 3/4-inch thick. Cut 2-inch rounds with a glass or biscuit cutter, then gently reshape the dough and cut again. I usually get about 10 biscuits.

Bake 7-9 minutes, or until the biscuits are nice and golden brown. These are best served warm!