It’s sweet potato season! So that means making sweet potato versions of EVERYTHING. These sweet potato biscuits are slightly sweet with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg that goes perfectly with breakfast, lunch, or dinner. They can also be topped with powdered sugar, whipped cream, or cream cheese frosting and paired with fresh fruit for a delicious dessert. The sweet potato is roasted first to really boost its natural flavors and help it shine through every single bite of these tender, buttery, delicious biscuits. Let’s get into this, so you can show out for Thanksgiving, your next brunch, or just a weeknight dinner with the family.
Ingredients you’ll need
Produce
- Sweet potatoes
Baking & Pantry Items
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
Dairy
- Unsalted butter
- Buttermilk
Equipment you’ll need
- Measuring spoons/cups
- Mixing bowls
- Sifter or fine mesh strainer
- Knife & cutting board
- Food processor (or 2 knives, for cutting butter into the flour)
- Rubber spatula or wooden spoon
- Biscuit cutter (2″ make the perfect sized biscuit)
- Baking sheet
- Aluminum foil
Tips for making sweet potato biscuits
Making sweet potato biscuits requires the same cold ingredients and gentle touch as any other biscuits. There are a few other things to consider for the sweet potatoes.
Use frozen butter and very cold buttermilk
The colder, the better when it comes to making biscuits. Keeping the dough (more specifically, the butter in the dough) cold allows it to melt and release steam at just the right time which expands and helps the biscuits rise. If the butter melts prior to baking, the biscuit bakes into a dense, chewy biscuit instead of one that is light and fluffy.
Use high-quality ingredients
Because there are only 7 basic ingredients in this recipe, you want to make sure the quality is as high as you can afford. You will definitely taste the difference in the butter or in the honey, if you choose to use that as a sweetener instead of sugar. Almost any butter,
Note: If you do choose to use honey as a sweetener instead of sugar, it should be combined with the buttermilk and added at the end instead of into the flour mix.
Avoid over mixing/kneading the dough
Anytime dough is handled, gluten is formed in the dough. Some gluten is good and helps creature the structure that is needed for most baked goods. However, over mixing and kneading the biscuit dough will cause them to become tough instead of tender.
Make the most of the first roll-out
Every time you roll out a new batch of biscuits from the leftover scraps, the texture of the final biscuit changes. This happens because the flour needed to keep them from sticking to the counter will inevitably mix into the newest roll-out and alter their texture. The difference may not be drastic, and it’s not usually a big deal for home cooks, but there will be a difference. When cutting biscuits, leave little to no space between biscuits.
You could even make square biscuits to eliminate even more potential for leftover scraps. As a matter of fact, that’s one major reason why our Biscuit Club biscuits are square.
For more best biscuit practices: Pro Tips for Making Great Biscuits at Home
How to roast sweet potatoes
- Scrub and dry sweet potatoes. Use a paper towel to get any extra dirt off the skin. You won’t be eating this part so it doesn’t have to be spotless. You just don’t want it being poked into the potato during Step 2.
- Use fork to poke holes in skin. This helps steam escape from the potato to prevent it from exploding. It’s kind of rare, but it happens so poke away so you can avoid that. Use it as a brief stress relief exercise.
- Place on aluminum-foiled lined baking sheet. Believe me, you don’t want to deal with the clean up that comes after allowing caramelized sweet potato juices to bake onto your baking sheet. Line that baking sheet with a layer of aluminum foil… or two.
- Bake in 375º F oven for 40-50 minutes, for larger potatoes. Smaller sweet potatoes could be tender in closer than 30 minutes. Use a knife to check if the sweet potatoes are cooked through.
- Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and let them cool. You want to keep the biscuit dough cold, remember? So let these piping hot sweet potatoes cool before using them in this recipe. Sweet potatoes can even be roasted up to 3 days in advance. Remove the insides, mash, and store in an airtight container until you’re ready to make the biscuit dough.
Ways to adjust and make these sweet potato biscuits your own
- Brush with egg wash (1 egg + 1 Tbsp water) on the top for a shiny crisp top. Egg wash can also be used to help decorative elements and flavorings to the top of the biscuit.
- Add herbs like thyme or sage to the top of each biscuit (using egg wash to help them stick).
- Double the amount of cinnamon and nutmeg in the recipe. These can be enjoyed as dessert with honey or a simple glaze. A splash of vanilla extract or a 1 vanilla bean can be added to really play up the fact that these are a dessert biscuit.
- Sprinkle with fresh cracked black pepper.
- Make them vegan. Use plant butter and make a vegan buttermilk from 1 cup of almond milk + 1 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice. Mix these two together and set in the fridge for 5 minutes to thicken. Use in the recipe below the same as dairy buttermilk.
- Top with honey butter. Regular butter will do, but a cinnamon honey butter will really send these biscuits over the top. In the best way possible.
- Pair with apple butter. Any fruit topping will be delicious, but the apple butter-sweet potato biscuit combo is something special.
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Equipment
- Measuring spoons/cups
- Mixing bowls
- Sifter or fine mesh strainer
- Knife & cutting board
- Food processor (or 2 knives, for cutting butter into the flour)
- Rubber spatula or wooden spoon
- Biscuit cutter (2" makes the perfect sized biscuit, imo)
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoons baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, light or dark, to taste
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional
- ½ cup unsalted butter, frozen (½ cup = 1 stick)
- 1 cup sweet potato puree, roasted, boiled or canned will work
- ¼ cup buttermilk, very cold
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450º F.
- Sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large mixing bowl (or in the bowl of a food processor).
- Carefully dice frozen butter and cut the butter into the flour until only a few chunks remain and most of the mixture resembles small pebbles. Transfer to a large mixing bowl (if using a food processor).
- Combine sweet potato with buttermilk, pour into flour and butter mix, and gently combine until a scraggly dough has formed. Be careful not to overmix.
- On a clean floured surface, (with a wooden spoon or spatula) pat dough into a large rectangle that is 3/4-inch thick. Cut biscuits into shape/size of your choosing.
- Line biscuits on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Finish with extra butter on the top.
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