Eggnog Pumpkin Angel Biscuits

Busy baking? Yes
Lazy blogger? Always
I swear, I’ve been baking. We had a small army of tomatoes from the community garden so I made a pate brisee dough, placed half in the freezer for a later use, and rolled the other half out and into a tart pan. No need to blind bake with this one. I brushed the bottom of the shell with a smoky red pepper spread, then a layer of ricotta cheese (mixed with a few egg yolks and some grated parmesan), and topped the whole thing off with layers of thickly sliced tomatoes. It was baked in a 375 oven for 40 minutes, till it was hot and bubbly. Soooo good for dinner with a tossed salad. Oh, and did I mention all of the Halloween cookies that I am getting ready? That will be a post for next week….

I still had some pumpkin puree left over from the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie that needed to get used. I kept thinking that I would make a pumpkin cranberry bread pudding, but I just was not in the mood for something sweet (what???). Angel biscuits are what I made instead. I am calling these Eggnog pumpkin angel biscuits since I just started making these and realized I didn’t have buttermilk for the liquid, but what I did have in the fridge was eggnog! It’s been a long time since I made these so I can’t give an actual taste comparison but I can tell you that they are outstanding when made with eggnog. There are many reasons to love these biscuits. You can whip up the dough the night before and wake up the next morning and bake them fresh out of the oven. I actually did it two ways. First I made the dough, placed it in the fridge for 1 hour, rolled it out, cut them and placed half in the oven for dinner. The other half (already rolled,cut,and  brushed with butter) in the fridge over night and baked them the next day. Equally delicious. these are also great because they are not sweet so they are great with some butter and jam,  as a cream cheese/jam sandwich (which is how my daughter likes them), or filled with smoked  Bavarian sausage (which is how my hubby liked them). I think they  would be great with sliced brie and pears…

Now, there are two ways to bring this together. You can mix it altogether in a food processor, or you can use a pastry blender. You know, it’s that half circle tined tool that you might not be sure of what to do with it. It’s perfect for cutting butter into flour. Unfortunately mine broke a while back , so I used the food processor, but I would never hesitate using that handy tool and you shouldn’t either. Bake On…

EGGNOG PUMPKIN ANGEL BISCUITS

Yields 17 large biscuits or 24 small biscuits

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 Cup  warm water (about 100 F)
5 Cups All purpose flour
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
1 Cup eggnog (or buttermilk)
1 Cup pumpkin puree
1 Tablespoon melted butter (for brushing the tops)

Dissolve the yeast in warm water in a small bowl; set aside .

Whisk together the flour, sugar, pumpkin-pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl (or food processor). Cut the butter into the flour mixture  using your processor (or pastry blender) until your butter pieces are incorporated, but you want to see several small pea size pieces sprinkled throughout. That is what gives you a light and flaky biscuit. If you are using a processor, transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree and the buttermilk until smooth. Add it to the flour mixture along with the yeast mixture. Stir everything together until just moistened. Like all biscuits, you want to use a light touch at this stage of the game.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour (or overnight).

Preheat your oven to 450F. Spray two 10 inch cake rounds with PAM (or use a large baking sheet).

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured workspace and knead a few times. I said a few – don’t manhandle it. Roll it out to 1/2 inch thick and cut with a 3 1/4 inch round cutter (or 2 inch for smaller biscuits).Gather up the scraps and reroll it. Place the biscuits in the prepared pans. Brush the tops with a little melted butter and bake until golden, about 12 minutes. Serve warm with butter or cold with sandwich meats/cheese. Enjoy!

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