Sweet Potato Biscuits with Ham and Honey

Molly Wizenberg's sweet potato biscuits are texturally perfect, a cross between flaky and crumbly. They are a tiny bit sweet and are divine paired with good ham, a little Dijon mustard, and a drizzle of honey. 

Here we go…Thanksgiving week! How did we get here so fast? Didn’t we just begin 2022?

No matter, Thanksgiving is here. And my family has requested some kind of biscuit be served. Through the years, we have tried chive and cheese, buttermilk, pumpkin. This year, we are serving sweet potato biscuits. That’s because I found this amazing recipe from the awesome Molly Wizenberg (author of A Homemade Life, a memoir about life and cooking, and former writer of “Orangette,” a James Beard Award-winning, early food blog). I’ve tried Molly’s recipes before; they are always good. This one for sweet potato biscuits is among the best.

Molly’s sweet potato biscuits are texturally perfect, a cross between flaky and crumbly. They are a tiny bit sweet. With some good ham, a little Dijon mustard, and a drizzle of honey, they are a grown-up version of a Hubchub (that’s Whataburger’s Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit, for those of you without teenagers). Excellent served with Thanksgiving lunch or dinner, and also wonderful on a make-your-own board pre- or post-the big event. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sweet Potato Biscuits with Ham, Mustard, and Honey
From Molly Wizenberg for Bon Appetit

1 ¾ pounds sweet potato, peeled, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 ¾ cups flour
1 tablespoon (packed) dark brown sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of cayenne 
8 tablespoons (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, plus 2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup chilled buttermilk
Dijon mustard
6 ounces thinly sliced country ham (use leftover ham from Thanksgiving, or we like Fra’ Mani Rosemary Uncured Ham from Central Market)
Honey

Cook the sweet potato in a medium saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, cool, and mash.

Position the rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 425 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan with 1 ½-inch-high sides.

Whisk the flour and the next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add the cubed butter to the flour mixture; toss to coat and rub with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk ¾ cup mashed sweet potatoes and buttermilk in a medium bowl. Add to the flour mixture and toss with a fork. Gather the mixture in the bowl, kneading gently until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and pat it into a 1-inch thick round. Using a 1 ½-inch round biscuit cutter (or a glass), cut out biscuits. Gather the scraps and repeat.

Arrange the biscuits side by side in the prepared cake pan. Brush with the melted butter. Bake until the biscuits are puffed and golden on top, and a tester inserted into the center biscuit comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Turn the biscuits out and gently pull them apart. Cut each biscuit in half crosswise.

Spread the bottom half of each biscuit with mustard, then top each with sliced ham and the top half of the biscuit. Serve with honey.