Pumpkin Biscuits

The eve of 2013 has arrived. It is a passageway from one year of experiences to a road of possibility. A clean slate to start eating better, being nicer, or taking a new vacation. Every year around Christmas when I am home in Ohio, my family and I fill our wine glasses, pull out our pens, and gather around the dining room table to write our resolutions for the upcoming year. Since 1999, we have carefully placed our resolutions into individual envelopes that are collected into one large envelope, that is ceremoniously tucked into a hidden venue until the next year. Then after Christmas, we contribute new plans and goals to the growing stack of papers. It is always interesting to review goals of years past. There are always a few that get rewritten and added to the next year. And there are ones that get crossed off...those are the most satisfying.

One of my resolutions this year is to be open to seeing life with a new perspective. You never know who you may meet that will change your life or what corner you may turn that will lead to a new path. This pumpkin for example was left over from Thanksgiving and needed to be either be roasted or composted. I chose the former, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It was brimming with seeds that got tossed into oil and roasted, and meat that was cooked, pureed, and refrigerated until inspiration hit. I was at the gym and as usual, day dreaming of what to have for breakfast the next day. There is a bakery near my house that serves sweet potato biscuits with egg and cheese. These breakfast sandwiches have been creeping into my mind for weeks. But when I have a day off, I often like staying home to drink coffee and make a fancy meal. So why not use the pureed pumpkin to create a similar meal?

So let's allow the pumpkin biscuits to symbolize change: transforming an ordinary pumpkin into a colorful breakfast biscuit. Go the extra step to make a small difference. Eggs and Cheddar cheese have never looked so cheery.

Pumpkin Biscuits

Makes 10 to 12 small biscuits

Inspired by an Allrecipes.com recipe

This was originally a sweet potato biscuit recipe that pumpkin was swapped into. Feel free to use sweet potato instead. I simply had a spare pumpkin that needed to be roasted and found its way into the biscuit dough.

1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 to 2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. Using your hands, mix butter into dry ingredients until butter is fully incorporated. Stir in milk until dough is sticky and well mixed. Refrigerate dough for 15 minutes.

Transfer dough onto a well-floured surface and knead until dough is smooth, about 1 minute. Roll dough using a floured rolling pin into a 1/2-inch rectangle; cut into about 2-inch squares. Place biscuits onto a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Place baking sheet and biscuits in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Remove from freezer and bake until biscuits have risen and are lightly browned, 15 to 18 minutes.