Foodie Fridays: Pumpkin Biscuits

From Friends Drift Inn

One of my biggest pet peeves is recipes that call for only half of an ingredient -- half of an onion, egg yolks or whites only, half a can of tomato paste, etc.  I am just not creative enough to find a use for the other half, and despite my best intentions to finish off the leftovers in another recipe I invariably end up throwing them out.  Sometimes I just ignore the recipe and use the whole ingredient -- a whole onion instead of half makes meatloaf moist and it tastes even better, in my opinion, and a whole can of tomato paste instead of half in my spaghetti sauce does not change the flavor.  Or I look for an alternative recipe that does not call for part of an ingredient -- I found an excellent bread pudding recipe that uses all of the egg instead of mostly yolks and I find it to be just as tasty.

Much as I love the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe I posted last week, it calls for only half a can of pumpkin.  I often make the recipe a second time just to finish off the pumpkin, but recently I found an even better way to use that leftover purée -- Pumpkin Biscuits!  They are just as easy to make as the muffins, and are equally delicious.  In fact, my husband raved about them and would have polished them all off if I had not hidden a few away!  From now on every time we have the muffins we will have the biscuits as well -- an added bonus is that both will freeze well, so you can save some for a later date and they will be just as good the second time around!

Pumpkin Biscuits

1 1/4 C. flour
2 T. plus 2 tsp. sugar
1 T. plus 1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 C. pumpkin purée
1/4 C. butter, melted

Sift together first six ingredients in a large bowl.  Add pumpkin and butter, stirring well.  Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead 6 to 8 times.  Roll or pat out dough to 1/2-inch thickness.  Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch round cutter, rerolling scraps once.  Place on parchment or sil-pat lined baking sheet.  Bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes until lightly golden.  Serve warm.  Makes 10 to 12 biscuits.