Brown_Butter_Pumpkin_Biscuits_Photo_Credit_Marisa_Vitale.jpg — Pumpkin Brown Butter Biscuits

**By Chadwick Boyd**
PHOTO By Marisa Vitale

A Biscuit Created for Pumpkin Pie-Lovers.

These biscuits are both savory and sweet, making them a perfect addition to your dinner or breakfast table. A swirl of pumpin and brown butter in the biscuit dough adds richness, aroma, and a satisfying nuttiness that'll perfume your kitchen as they bake. I like to roast a sugar pumpkin ahead of time—usually in big batches because I use chunks of pumplin in all sorts of dishes in the fall, but pre-cut butternut squash from the grocery store also works well. So does substituting with a can of Libby’s pumpkin. Chilling the biscuit dough overnight is ideal when you want fresh-baked pumpkin biscuits in the morning.

Chadwick’s Checklist

What you need to know before you cook.

Fresh pumpkin is roasted and completely cooled before adding to the dough.
Butter is browned and frozen solid. This extra step adds flavor and flakiness to biscuits.
You'll need a cast iron skillet for baking, but a baking sheet works well, too.

SERVING SIZE: 14 2” biscuits PREP TIME: 45 mins COOKING TIME: 2 hrs 45 mins

Ingredients

2 cups peeled, fresh pumpkin cut into ½” wide chunks
1½ tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
Or 1 can of Libby’s Pumpkin if skipping roasting
1¼ sticks unsalted butter + 1½ tablespoons for the skillet
2 cups All Purpose flour + 2½ tablespoons + more for dusting
1 tablespoon baking powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
¼ cup Demerara sugar + 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
1¼ cup full fat sour cream
2 tablespoons ice cold water

Directions

For the pumpkin (or skip and use 1 can of Libby’s Pumpkin)

Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place the pumpkin in a medium bowl. Toss with the oil to fully coat. Place on the baking sheet so the pieces are not touching each other. Roast for 40-45 minutes until the pumpkin is are tender when pierced with a knife and caramelized on the edges.
Allow to cool completely, then roughly chop the pumpkin into ½” pieces. In a small bowl, toss with the 2½ tablespoons of flour. Set aside.
For the brown butter
Melt 1¼ sticks unsalted butter on medium heat in a medium skillet. Continue cooking 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until it just begins to turn a toasty colored brown. Take off the heat immediately and transfer a shallow bowl. Place in the freezer to harden – 40 minutes to an hour.

For the biscuits

Place a 12” cast iron skillet in the oven on the middle rack and preheat the oven to 450°F.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
Remove the brown butter from the freezer. Run a kitchen spoon under hot water, then scoop the brown butter out onto a cutting board. Using a chef’s knife, chop into ½” size pieces. Add the brown butter to the dry ingredients and toss in the flour mixture to coat. Quickly, work the brown butter into the dough using your fingers until it forms small crumbles. Then, add the pumpkin (if using a can of pumpkin, add the pumpkin to the sour cream instead of here). Toss gently with your fingers to fully incorporate into the flour-brown butter mixture.
Place the sour cream in a medium bowl with the can of pumpkin if using, add the water and whisk together until smooth (if too thick, add one tablespoon if water at a time until the consistency of buttermilk). Make a well in the flour-pumpkin mixture. Add the sour cream. Gently mix with a heavy handled rubber spatula to bring the dough together. If the dough is still too dry, add one tablespoon of cold water at a time until the dough forms.
Place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for 20 minutes.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured, clean surface and pat out into a long rectangle to 1" thick. Sprinkle with flour. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter. Pat it down again to a 1” rectangle again, sprinkle with flour and fold in thirds. Do that one more time. Cut the biscuits straight down with a well-floured 2" biscuit cutter. Flip them over so the bottom is right side up and set aside on the counter. Bring the dough scraps gently together with your hands and pat out to 1” thick and cut again.
Remove the skillet from the oven. Add the remaining 1½ tablespoons of butter to the skillet – it will sizzle and melt. Add the biscuits to the skillet. Dust with 1-2 tablespoons of Demerara sugar.
Bake 14-16 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown on top. Remove from the oven. Let settle in the skillet about 5 minutes.
Serve with butter.