Every Autumn, pumpkin comes back into the spotlight. Pumpkin lattes, muffins, candles, heck… even dog shampoo get pumpkin-fied. And while the overall brand campaign pumpkin’s PR team takes each fall works like a charm, I think the world forgets an important detail about the little orange fellow. They forget that pumpkin is a vegetable. That all squashes are just vine grown veggies at the end of the day. So, I like to instead let it act like one. Like a dog without a collar and leash running free. This biscuit recipe is a riff on my regular buttermilk biscuit, but punched up in my own pumpkin branded way to let the vegetable stand out among common autumn herb flavors. They’re buttery and tall, flecked with fresh rosemary thyme and parsley, plus a little cheddar for good measure. I cut them with a scalloped cutter to make them look a bit more pumpkin-y with the round ridges, and I think you’ll find they are guest approved.
The pumpkin does more than add color though, which is normally all its good for to be honest. It keeps the crumb tender and slightly moist, so these stay soft on the inside a little longer than a plain buttermilk biscuit. The tradeoff is that pumpkin does brings water, and water is the enemy of flaky layers if your butter gets warm. So the whole recipe is built around keeping things ultra cold until the last minute when they are placed in a piping hot oven.
The first key in my ultra-cold endeavors is to start with frozen butter and grate it straight into the flour. This is the easiest way I know to get small, evenly distributed pieces of butter without a pastry cutter or a food processor, and it’s the reason these rise the way they do. Now, whether or not you appreciate the little arm workout attached to grating it by hand is another question, but who doesn’t want to look more toned thanks to biscuit making? I find it to be a win myself. Toss the shreds in the flour with your fingers until they’re coated, then add the cheese (either preshredded or handled just like the butter and shredded straight into the bowl). Whisk the pumpkin and buttermilk together separately and stir it in with a fork just until the dough comes together. It should look shaggy and a bit uneven, so don’t be too overwhelmed if its not a perfect single color dough yet. If you’re tempted to keep stirring until it’s smooth, put the fork down and walk away for a second because you don’t want to risk overmixing.
When its ready, start folding. Take it out of the bowl (and feel free to tap out any remaining flour it didn’t grab). Pat the dough into a rectangle, fold it in thirds like you’re putting a letter in an envelope, turn it, and do it again. Three folds total just to be sure. This takes about a minute and it’s where your layers come from, so don’t skip it!
A note on the cutter technique for anyone new to the biscuit or scone making land. When you are working with biscuit dough and a cutter of any kind, make sure to press it straight down and lift it straight up. No twisting, per my granny. I know the twist *feels* natural, but it pinches the edges shut, and a biscuit with sealed edges can’t rise. Feel free to even test this theory out if you dare risk one of them for science. With a scalloped cutter you’ll also lose the definition on the ruffles, which defeats the point of using it. Flour the cutter between every cut if you find yours is prone to sticking also.
Scraps can be pressed together once and cut again. Those second-round biscuits come out a little shorter and a little wonkier, and they’re usually the ones I save for myself and my husband if we are having company over. Thats my rule at least!
Before baking, and this is #2 big ultra cold dough reason — freeze the cut biscuits for 15 minutes. I would say 15-20 to be on the safe side. This firms the butter back up after all your handling and helps the scalloped shape hold in a hot oven. If you want tall, soft-sided biscuits, set them on the pan just touching each other. If you’re more of an edges person, give them an inch of space. Brush the tops with melted butter, add a pinch of flaky salt, and bake until the bottoms are golden and the tops have gone deep orange.
For the cheese, I use an aged sharp cheddar. But really, any kind of cheddar works (even an aged white cheddar if you want less orange color but still cheddar flavor). If you’d rather use Parmesan, and want to ensure its truly a vegetarian one, make sure to check the label. Gruyère and smoked gouda both work well too! And if you don’t have buttermilk, a little lemon juice stirred into whole milk will do the job.
Serve these next to a pot of soup, split them for an egg breakfast sandwich, or put them on your Thanksgiving table like I will. The good news is that you can freeze the cut, unbaked biscuits for up to three months and bake them straight from the freezer, which means you can make them this weekend and look extremely prepared in late November. Cheers (with biscuits in hand of course) to that!
Savory Pumpkin Herbed Biscuits
Equipment
- 2½-inch scalloped round cutter
- Large mixing bowl
- Box grater
- Rolling Pin
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting (313g)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder 13g
- ½ teaspoon baking soda 3g
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt 6g
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper 1g
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg 0.3g
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary 3g
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme 3g
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley 3g
- ½ cup unsalted butter frozen (113g)
- ¾ cup shredded aged sharp cheddar 85g
- ⅔ cup pumpkin purée plain, not pie filling (163g)
- ½ cup cold buttermilk 121g
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted, for brushing (28g)
- Flaky sea salt for topping
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425°F ( or 220°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and fresh herbs.
- Grate the frozen butter directly into the flour on the large holes of a box grater. Toss with your fingers until every butter shred is coated. Stir in the cheddar.
- In a small bowl, whisk the pumpkin purée and buttermilk until smooth. Pour into the flour mixture and stir with a fork just until a shaggy dough forms. It should look a little rough. If dry flour is still hiding at the bottom, add buttermilk 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Turn the dough onto a floured surface and pat into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Fold it in thirds like a letter, turn it 90 degrees, and pat it out again. Repeat the fold two more times. This is where the layers come from.
- Roll or pat the dough to ¾ inch thick. Dip the scalloped cutter in flour and press straight down without twisting. Twisting seals the edges and you lose your rise (and the scallops get smudgy). Reflour the cutter between each cut.
- Gently press the scraps together once, pat to ¾ inch, and cut again.
- Place biscuits on the baking sheet so they’re just touching for taller sides, or 1 inch apart for crispier edges. Freeze for 15 minutes.
- Brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with flaky salt.
- Bake 14–16 minutes, until puffed and golden on the bottoms and the tops are deep orange-gold. Cool 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
No buttermilk: Stir 1½ teaspoons lemon juice into ½ cup (120g) whole milk and let it sit 5 minutes.
Gluten-free: A 1:1 gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum should work, but in general expect less rise and a more delicate dough. Untested on this recipe, also! Optional add-ins
Press toasted Pepitas into the tops before baking
2 tablespoons (6g) chopped chives with herbs Tips
Cold is everything with biscuit dough! If your kitchen is warm or the dough gets sticky, put the whole bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes before cutting.
Canned pumpkin varies in moisture. If yours looks wet, blot it on a paper towel before measuring.
The second-round biscuits from the scraps will be a little less tall. That’s normal; those are typically called the cook’s biscuits for a reason, so enjoy one as your tester.
Freezing the cut biscuits before baking helps the scalloped edges hold their shape. Storage
Best the day they’re baked. Store leftovers airtight at room temperature up to 2 days; rewarm at 350°F for 5 minutes. You can also microwave but they might dry out and get a little rubbery.
To freeze unbaked: freeze cut biscuits on a sheet until solid, then bag for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding 3–5 minutes.