Pumpkin Buttermilk Biscuits

I remember when I was a little kid my mother served slices of white bread with every dinner.  Not exactly gourmet, but it satisfied my dad who used the bread as a kind of scoop to shovel the goods into his mouth.  I love bread of any kind; I usually stuff myself on dinner rolls whenever we go out for dinner, but I rarely make bread to serve to my own family because bread seems time-consuming and complicated. However, I have recently been trying more quick bread recipes with some really interesting results.  These pumpkin biscuits came together super quick and had a unique flavor that tasted amazing when slathered in the accompanying pumpkin butter.

Pumpkin Buttermilk Biscuits
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 20 min
Serves 6 
 
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg
1 Tbs plus 1 tsp sugar
6 Tbs unsalted butter, frozen
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 Tbs milk
1 Tbs sugar
 
For the Pumpkin Butter
4 Tbs butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a Silpat and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar.  Using a cheese grater, grate the butter into the flour mixture.  Stir lightly to incorporate.  Pour in the buttermilk and gently mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until the dough just starts to come together.  Add the pumpkin and mix through the dough.

Dump the dough onto a floured work surface and gently pat until it's about 1-1 1/2 inches thick.  Using a 3 inch wide round cookie cutter, cut out 6 biscuits.  Place the biscuits onto the parchment paper, side by side.  Keep the biscuits tight beside each other on the baking tray to ensure they rise upwards.  Glaze each biscuit with a little milk and sprinkle sugar on top.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine all of the butter ingredients in a stand mixer and beat until well combined.

Serve biscuits warm, slathered in pumpkin butter.  If you run out of pumpkin butter, regular butter and a drizzle of honey tastes great too!

381 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!