Sweet Potato Biscuit Pillows with Honey and Coconut Oil

Directions

1. NOTE: As a time saver, I like to start these biscuits in the bowl of a food processor. If you don’t have one, make sure you mix the dry ingredients together thoroughly with a whisk. It’s important to make sure the baking powder and yeast are evenly distributed into the flour. Use either a pastry blender, two knives, or your fingers to rub the butter and coconut oil into the flour.
2. Place the flours, baking powder, instant yeast, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade. Pulse them a few times to evenly distribute the baking powder and yeast through the flours.
3. Slice the butter into 1/2 tablespoon slabs and add to the bowl, along with the coconut oil. Pulse a few times until the butter is broken into pea-sized pieces. The best way to check this is by dipping a fork into the flour mixture a few times.
4. Bake the sweet potato until soft (I use the microwave). Spoon out 1/3 cup of sweet potato. Place in a fine strainer and push it through using the back of a spoon. Sweet potato is thick and can be lumpy, and this straining will give you a beautiful smooth result. It should also by cool enough now to add the wet ingredients.
5. Add the egg, buttermilk, and honey. Stir thoroughly using a whisk. Add the cardamom and whisk a few more times. If your cardamom is older, you might want to add a little more. You should have a nice smooth batter to add to the flour mixture.
6. Form a well in the middle of the flour with your hand, and pour half of the batter into it. Using a spatula, combine the mixture by folding the flour into the batter. Add the remaining batter and continue to mix into the flour mixture.
7. As soon as the flour and batter are fully integrated, it’s time for the first rise. The dough is very sticky, so don’t knead it yet. Cover the bowl with plastic and allow the dough to rise until it’s almost doubled (about 1 1/2 hours). My favorite place to put dough for a rising is the microwave. I place a hot cut of water in the microwave with it so that it’s nice and warm and safe from drafts.
8. Lightly oil a clean bowl and move the dough to it. the process of doing this will punch it down. Cover the dough with plastic, fitting the plastic wrap loosely around the mound of dough, and slide the bowl into the refrigerator. I leave it there overnight, but if you’re in a rush, leave it in the refrigerator for at least four hours.
9. Lightly flour a work space and lay the dough on it. Knead it a few times (10 – 20 times at the most) to get a smooth dough, adding a little flour as needed.
10. Place the dough on a piece of parchment or wax paper and roll it out into a square or rectangular shape, about 3/4? thick.
11. Line a baking sheet with a fresh piece of parchment paper. Slice the dough into large squares, approximately 3? square. Cut each square diagonally in half to form two triangles per square. Place them on the parchment lined baking sheet, 1? apart from each other. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warm area of your kitchen to rise for an hour. They should be 1? to 1 1/4? inch high.
12. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. I always have a baking stone in my oven, but it’s not critical. The benefit of a baking stone is that it can evenly heat the baking sheet and reduce problems with uneven heat. If you’re using one, place it on the center rack, or one rack down from the center.
13. Bake for 10 minutes and increase the heat to 400 degrees F. Bake another 5 – 10 minutes. The surfaces should be a little more than lightly browned. If you have a temperature probe, the internal temperature of the biscuits should reach 200 degrees F.
14. Allow to cool slightly and serve warm.
15. I find I don’t need any extra honey and butter on them, but you can serve these on the side when you bring them to the table.