Sometimes there’s a sale on sweet potatoes.
And sometimes your father-in-law buys a case of them at a produce stand and takes two out and brings you the rest.
I’ve had both these things happen. And so I learned to do more than the usual sweet potato casserole or baked sweet potato or sweet potato fries or sweet potato pie. I’m sounding a bit like Bubba from Forrest Gump … but with sweet potatoes.
Our customers enjoyed new dishes. And they especially enjoyed seasonal new dishes. So in the fall/winter, we had an increase in requests for sweet potato pie and sweet potato casserole with the little marshmallows toasted on top. And we happily obliged those cravings.
But I like to try new things, so the brown sugar sweet potato scone became a winner. I loved them, customers loved them. And they’re pretty easy to make using pantry staples, so win-win. A scone is pretty much a ramped up biscuit. This means you can eat them anytime and all the time. Our customers loved to buy them for quick breakfasts or we served them for breakfast catering orders. They travel well and don’t have to be served hot.
Here’s what you’ll need for brown sugar sweet potato scones with brown sugar icing.
(Makes 16 scones)
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes (2 medium sweet potatoes, cooked)
1 cup buttermilk (to make your own: put 1 Tbs lemon juice in a measuring cup and fill it to the cup line with milk)
2 Tbs heavy cream
3 tsp vanilla flavoring (here’s how to make homemade)
Healthy dollop of sour cream (about 2 Tbs)
5 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
Brown Sugar Icing:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
6 Tbs heavy cream
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Smash those sweet potatoes up in a bowl with a large spoon or in your mixer bowl.
Add milk.
Add cream.
Add vanilla flavoring.
Add sour cream.
Whip it. Whip it real good. … Until well mixed.
In separate, large bowl, add brown sugar to flour.
Add cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Use a whisk to incorporate all ingredients well.
Add cold buttter and mix with pastry blender or in food processor bowl.
You might have to get in there with your hands. Mix until mixture resembles small pea-size pebbles of buttery goodness.
Add the sweet potato mixture to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
(You can do this in that same food processor bowl and stop the mixing as soon as the ingredients come together – it’s much easier this way.)
On lightly floured surface, roll the dough into two 7-inch circles (so that you have nice size scones. You can roll it out into a 14-inch circle but you’ll have some monster size scones that take a little longer to bake through. But be a rebel and do what you want.)
Cut the scones into 8 pieces, like you’re slicing up a pizza. Ummmm-a pizza scone. That’ll be a recipe for another day.
Place scones on parchment-lined pan. Brush tops with a little cream and place in preheated oven.
Bake 20-30 minutes, just until tops are almost browning.
Remove from oven and place on wire racks to cool. This keeps them from getting sweaty and gooey bottomed. (Yes, that is a technical term.)
Mix up your icing and drizzle on top. You can mix this icing over low heat and have a less grainy icing texture as well. But I like sugar, so the grains don’t bother me!
Eat.
For catering: Depending on how many you are feeding, double or triple this recipe. You can also roll the dough into smaller 4-inch circles and make mini scones in different flavors. Or roll them into a large rectangle and cut corner pieces in various sizes. This smaller size requires a baking time of 15-20 minutes.
