Culinary Guides

Roasted butternut squash puree folded into biscuit dough gives these a tender crumb, a golden color, and just enough sweetness. Warm spices make them feel like fall. They are good split with butter and honey, or as the base for a turkey and cranberry slider the day after a holiday.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 cup roasted and mashed butternut squash puree
• 3 tablespoons honey, warmed until pourable

Make the dough

1. Heat the oven to 400F (200C) and line a baking sheet with parchment. Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.
2. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse meal with pea-sized bits, then chill the bowl 10 minutes.
3. Whisk the buttermilk with the warmed honey, stir in the squash puree until smooth, then add to the flour and stir gently until it just comes together.

Shape and bake

1. Turn the dough out and knead gently 8 to 10 times, folding it over to build layers. Pat to about 1-inch thick and cut with a floured 2-inch cutter, pressing straight down without twisting.
2. Set the biscuits on the sheet so they barely touch, which helps them rise up. Bake 14 to 18 minutes, until lightly browned. Serve warm.

Grower's tip: roast the squash for the puree rather than boiling it. Boiled squash holds water and makes a wet dough, while roasting drives off moisture and concentrates the sugars, so the biscuits stay light. Cured winter squash from your own patch roasts sweetest.

These start with homegrown squash. Roast the puree from our butternut squash seeds, and try folding in a little chopped rosemary or sage for a savory batch.