[Mini!] Sweet Potato Ham Biscuits & Maple Mustard Dipping Sauce

 

Sweet potato biscuits have been on my list for a little while now. Well, they've been on my list since I decided I'm no longer offended that they are called "potato", while being both orange (what?!) and sweet (WHAT?!).

Yup, it used to be that I didn't like sweet potatoes, and white chocolate for that matter, because I misunderstood them. Then a couple years ago, I gave them a try in a more normal context than sweet potato casserole. It probably was sweet potato fries, or something savory. And now I love them! Salty and sweet is a captivating flavor combination, which is exactly what sweet potato can bring to the table.

I've had my fair share of dry, dense, and bland sweet potato biscuits---or just normal biscuits. After spending a few years perfecting "the buttermilk biscuit", however, I felt prepared to tackle these. It all comes down to sticking with what I know: using (local) self-rising flour for optimum fluffiness, super-cold ingredients for flakiness, and gently flouring-and-folding the dough to create awesome layers. If you follow these pointers, these biscuits are practically fool-proof!

You'll love how fluffy but dense they are, with a subtle sweetness highlighted with a few tablespoons of maple syrup. Salty country ham offers the perfect contrast. Oh, and the sauce!

Even with the color and flavor of sweet potato, ham biscuits can come off as a little dull. This sauce, a spin on honey mustard, adds the missing zippy tang. On your holiday buffet, don't worry about spreading it on each biscuit. Serve it on the side and let your guests dip to their liking (and my liking's A LOT!).

Add these to your holiday party spread this season for an "aw" and "wow" all in one!

Mini Sweet Potato Ham Biscuits

Servings: 2 dozen mini-biscuits

1 sweet potato, cooked and cooled (1 cup mashed sweet potato)
1/2 cup (1stick) butter, cold
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk, cold
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 cups self-rising flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg + 1 tablespoon water (for egg wash)
1 country ham, thinly-sliced or shaved

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Next, there are two ways to cut the butter into the dry ingredients: Using a box cheese grater or a food processor. 
• If you are going to use a cheese grater, add flour and salt to a large bowl. Grate butter on a small cutting board or plate. Toss the butter into the flour. Place bowl in freezer for 5-10 minutes. 
• If you are using a food processor, add flour and salt to processor bowl. Cut up butter into ½-1 tablespoons pads and toss over flour. Pulse mixture about 4 times. Shake flour down from sides of the bowl and take note of how big the clumps of butter are. You want them about the size of large peas. Return bowl to processor and pulse a few more times to achieve that size. (Note: The butter will further breakdown when you pulse in the wet ingredients in the next step.) Place bowl in freezer for 5-10 minutes.
• Whisk buttermilk, 1 cup mashed sweet potato and maple syrup in a small bowl until combined. In a small bowl, make the egg wash, whisking together the egg and water or milk. Transfer both to the refrigerator.
• Grab the bowl out of the freezer. If you used the cheese grater, gently break up the butter and combine with the flour, using your hands, until it resembles small peas. Remove buttermilk mixture from fridge, and add it all at once to the flour mixture. Mix until barely combined with a wooden spoon. If you are using a food processor, add buttermilk mixture to processor bowl and pulse 4-5 times. Sprinkle a large cutting board or your kitchen counter with flour and dump the loose dough onto it. It’s ok if it’s not completely combined when you dump it.
• Lightly press the dough into one solid square mass. Very lightly flour the top of it and fold in half; flour-and-fold 3-4 more times. (All this folding will help make layers!) Dough should now be in a square/rectangle and at a 3/4-inch thickness. Cut out the biscuits using a pizza cutter or knife into about 1x1 inch squares. Transfer them to the baking sheet.
• Stick the baking sheet in the freezer for 5 minutes (or overnight!) to get the bits of butter cold again. Remove from freezer, brush the tops of with egg wash, and bake for 15-18 minutes, until tall and medium golden brown. (Note: It'll depend on the size of the biscuits and how cold they are--i.e. frozen = longer bake time.) Allow biscuits to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then move to a rack finish cooling. 
• Once cool, slice biscuits and fill with ham. Serve with maple mustard dipping sauce (below).

Notes: Adapted from Bon Appetit

Maple Mustard Dipping Sauce

Servings: 1/2 cup

1/4 cup Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons Grade A pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon mayonaise

• Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes to let flavors meld together.