Most summers, my family tries to sneak in at least a brief vacation to Nags Heads, NC. Though Nags Head is gradually becoming more built up, luckily some things haven’t changed.
Our favorite and most consistent restaurant is Kelly’s Restaurant and Tavern in the Outer Banks; if you haven’t been then you’re really missing something special. It’s a nicer establishment than most (ie, expensive), but it’s well worth the expense. Usually when we go I always order the flounder, but it’s incredibly difficult to restrain myself from filling up on their signature Sweet Potato Biscuits.
These biscuits aren’t beauty pageant winners – they stay fairly flat and don’t rise in the oven. They aren’t the light, flaky, buttery kind, in fact they’re quite dense and heavy. What makes them so great? They smell heavenly, they’re very unique, they’re filled with sweet potatoes which are actually good for you and they stick to the roof of your mouth. Yum!
Kelly’s will give you the Sweet Potato Biscuit recipe if you ask for it, but you’ll be surprised to learn that they’re made using Bisquick. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I prefer making it all from scratch – which really isn’t much more difficult and you’ll likely have all of the ingredients already on hand.
I read a few different biscuit recipes to come up with a combination of ingredients that I thought could replace the Bisquick while maintaining the great taste I’m used to. I made these Friday night, just in time for the series finale of Battlestar Galactica (if you happened to watch this, what did you think? my husband joked, “the moral of 4 seasons: robots will probably kill you”). We scarfed a few of these down until our stomaches hurt (hey, I warned you they were dense). These are best enjoyed warm.
Sweet Potato Biscuits
1 pound sweet potatoes (approximately 2 sweet potatoes)
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup milk (I used skim)
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Peel sweet potatoes, then cut into 2 inch pieces and boil until there is very little resistance when pierced with a fork. Mash sweet potatoes using a masher or the back of a fork. Add all remaining ingredients and mix well.
Using two spoons, drop biscuit mixture onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet; biscuits should be approximately 2 1/2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick.
Bake for 16-18 minutes. The moistness of the mixture makes it so that these biscuits do not rise much. Keep an eye on them so that they don’t overcook. Biscuits are ready when they have set and they are slightly firm to the touch.
Makes about 1 1/2 dozen biscuits.
Note: Be sure that these are completely cooled before putting them away, if there are any left. Do not store in an airtight container because the tops will get “sticky.”
