Canned pumpkin puree is definitely convenient to use in the sense that you don’t have to break down, roast, and puree a fresh pumpkin, saving you hours of time there. That being said, recipes can be a little wonky in terms of how much pumpkin puree you need vs how much there is in a can. I’ve found myself in multiple instances where I had too much leftover pumpkin puree during the fall, so I started coming up with a handful of recipes on how to use that up, be it sweet or savory. In the case of this recipe, as the title already alludes to it, it’s a savory biscuit with pumpkin puree in it. I’ve been meaning to make another biscuit recipe for a while now, and I figured, why not throw some pumpkin puree into it and call it a day? The end result were these soft, tender biscuits that almost melt in your mouth. I honestly was worried about the liquid content from the pumpkin, so I added extra leavening to this recipe to counteract that, and it worked surprisingly enough! The pumpkin itself is mildly sweet in flavor, but it gives the biscuits this distinct golden-orange color that reminded me of turmeric. To give the biscuits a more savory note, I used some warming spices like nutmeg and black pepper, as well as dried sage, all of which really kicks up that autumnal flavor. I recommend serving these biscuits while still warm with some room temperature butter for the best eating experience.

Makes 12 biscuits:
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
a pinch of salt
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of black pepper
a pinch of dried sage
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed and kept cold
1 egg
pepitas

In a bowl, mix the flour and baking powder together. In another bowl, mix the cream, vinegar, pumpkin, salt, and spices together. Add the flour and butter into a food processor and pulse into a fine, crumbly dough. The add to that the pumpkin-cream mixture and continue mixing until the dough just comes together into a singular ball. Freeze the dough for 10 minutes. Then roll out the dough in a slightly floured surface, shaping into into a rectangle that is no more than 1/2-inch thick. Cut the dough into 12 squares and place onto a parchment-lined sheet tray. Beat an egg and brush on top of each biscuit. Sprinkle pepitas on as well. Bake the biscuits in a 400 degrees F oven for 12-15 minutes.