Aunt Lavina's Favorite Recipe for Butternut Squash Wheat Biscuits

Aunt Lavina and Carolyn like to use fresh ingredients as often as possible. They raise a wide variety of vegetables and buy locally whenever they can. In Wild Wonderful Wanton Wraith, Aunt Lavina shares her stimulating and tantalizing recipes. This is a sample of her old fashioned cooking.

Anyone who has ever had a garden knows squash is something that seems to multiply on it's own. Jessup's Bed and Breakfast guests love butternut squash wheat biscuits dabbed with rich creamy butter and homemade jam.

A quick Squash Biscuit Recipe--Aunt Lavina prefers the next one

One and a half cups cooked squash, 3/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute) 1/2 teasp. salt, 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup hot milk, 1/4 yeast cake dissolved in 1/4 cup tepid water, 2 1/2 cups of flour or enough to make a soft dough. Let rise, make into small, very thin biscuits. Put 2 together, with butter between, brush with butter, cover, and after they rise a bit, bake at 400 degrees. 

 Aunt Lavina's Favorite 

Light and Flaky Squash Biscuits

Makes 20-24 Delicate, Sweet and Vibrant in Color Biscuits

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Baking Time: 18 minutes

2 cups whole-wheat flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cold butter (or substitute)

1 cup puréed squash

2 teaspoons honey (Aunt Lavina likes to add 1/2 cup sugar substitute)

1-4 tablespoons low-fat milk

v   Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut butter into small pieces and work into flour mixture with a pastry cutter until it's the size of small peas. (Tub butter substitute is easier to blend, but some people really prefer the taste of real butter--Aunt Lavina uses real butter)

v  . Mix honey into puréed squash, then stir into flour mixture. Add enough milk to make a soft dough.

v  . Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. With your hands, flatten it out to about a 1/2-inch thickness. Fold the dough in half as you would close a book. Rotate dough 90 degrees, pat it out, and fold it again. Repeat this twice, dusting with flour as necessary to prevent the dough from sticking to your fingers. Work quickly to prevent the butter from becoming overly soft.

v  . After the last folding, roll out dough to about 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into 1 1/2-inch rounds. To shape the biscuits, form your thumb and first finger into a crescent shape. Hold the biscuit upright in this crescent with your fingers curled around the cut edges. Rotate and gently squeeze the biscuit to give it more height.

Note: Carolyn enjoys making different shapes, but the shapes make a difference in the lightness of the biscuits. If you just cut them and place them on a baking sheet, they'll still work, but they won't be as good.

Place the biscuits closely together in a 9-inch square baking pan. Bake until puffed and very lightly browned, 18 to 20 minutes. Serve piping hot.

Give one of these easy recipes a try and let us know how you liked them.