Name: Sweet Potato Biscuits
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 22 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cup flour; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon salt; 6 tablespoons cold butter (cubed); 1/3-2/3 cup buttermilk; 3/4 cup mashed cooked sweet potato; 1 tablespoon maple syrup

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Sweet Potato Biscuits are light and fluffy, yet filled with the subtle flavor and sweetness of sweet potato puree. Served plain, as the base of a savory breakfast sandwich, or on the side of a hearty soup, you will love the flavor in these Sweet Potato Biscuits.

Sweet Potato Biscuit on wax paper next to biscuit with butter

While there is nothing quite like a homemade biscuit, these Sweet Potato Biscuits are a delicious, unexpected, spin-off on the classic. They are super light, super tender, and pack a slightly sweet flavor and a hefty dose of vitamin A thanks to the sweet potatoes.

While the flavor of the sweet potato puree is not prominent in these biscuits, the sweet potato keeps these biscuits moist and tender and cuts down on the amount of butter needed in the dough. The puree also helps to add a hint of sweetness to the dough.

Key Ingredients

Ingredients for sweet potato biscuits labeled.

Flour: Use whole wheat, whole white wheat, or all-purpose flour for the biscuit dough.
Baking Powder: Be sure your baking powder is not expired so that your biscuits rise. Another tip is to use aluminum-free baking powder for the best taste.
Sweet Potato Puree: While you can use canned sweet potato puree, it is less expensive and incredibly easy to make homemade sweet potato puree. Alternatively, you can use canned or homemade pumpkin puree in place of the sweet potato but will need to make adjustments to the measurements--see recipe card for details.
Butter: You need cubed or grated COLD butter. The butter will melt as it bakes, forming air pockets in the biscuits, which keeps them super tender and light. I love grating my butter on a cheese grater and then placing the butter in the freezer for 5 minutes to get it really cold.
Buttermilk: If you don't have buttermilk, use any dairy or non-dairy milk you have or you can make your own buttermilk by adding 1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup milk and let sit for 5 minutes before using.
Maple Syrup: Maple syrup helps to bring out the flavor of the sweet potato and lends to the sweetness of these biscuits, but feel free to omit it for a more savory biscuit.

How to Make Sweet Potato Biscuits

In a food processor fitted with a dough hook, pulse together the flour and baking soda.
Add in the cold butter and pulse a couple of times until the butter is broken down into small pea-size pieces.
In a separate bowl or large glass measuring cup, mix together the buttermilk, syrup, and sweet potato until well combined. If you simply added these ingredients to your flour mixture, you risk overmixing your biscuit dough.
Add the mixture to flour and pulse until the dough just comes together. If needed, add in additional buttermilk or flour, one tablespoon at a time, to reach the right consistency.

Sweet Potato Biscuit Dough in Food Processor

Turn out the biscuit dough onto a well-floured surface.
Using your hands, lightly pat the dough into a ball. Again, you want to be careful to not overwork the dough, so that your biscuits stay light and fluffy.
Pat the dough down into a 1-inch thick oval.
Using a floured circle cookie cutter or opening of a glass, cut biscuit dough into circles. Alternatively, you can cut the dough into rectangles or squares.
Place the biscuits onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush the tops of the biscuits with the extra buttermilk.
Bake until puffed up and set.
Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.

Sweet Potato Biscuit cut open with butter

Pro-Tips to Remember

Use cold ingredients. It is really important that the butter, buttermilk, and sweet potato puree are very cold in order for the biscuits to stay light and fluffy.
No food processor? If you don't have a food processor, you can make these biscuits by hand, using 2 forks or a pastry cutter to mix the butter into the flour. Just be careful to not mix.
Get creative. Feel free to shape these biscuits into any shape you like. You can cut into squares, use a pumpkin cooking cutter, or any cookie cutter you like.
How to use dough scraps. Extra dough can be patted back together once to produce more biscuits. Using scraps more than once can result in a biscuit that is heavy or dense because the dough will become overworked and warm if handled too much.

Storing Biscuits

Once the biscuits have cooled to room temperature, they can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 24 hours or refrigerated for up to 3 days. Alternatively, you can freeze the biscuits in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge.

Serving Suggestions

These sweet potato biscuits are can be served in a variety of ways.

Dust Sweet Potato Biscuits with cinnamon sugar after baking and serve with butter for a sweeter version.
Serve with a smear of butter, jam, or apple butter.
Make a savory breakfast biscuit sandwich with a poached egg and a slice of cheese.
Use Sweet Potato Biscuits as the base for a ham sandwich. I recommend adding sliced apples with sharp cheese and Dijon mustard as well--YUM!
Serve biscuits with Instant Pot Chili or Black Bean Chili.

More Sweet Potato Recipes

If you gave these sweet potato biscuits a try, I would love for you to leave a comment below.

Sweet Potato Biscuit on wax paper with buttered biscuit in background

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Light and fluffy biscuits made with sweet potato puree, for slightly sweet tender moist biscuit.

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 22 minutes

Servings:

Calories: 126kcal

Author: Kristen Chidsey

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Fit the food processor with the dough blade (the dull blade). Pulse together the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add in the butter and pulse until it lookd like peas (see photo).
Mix together ⅓ cup buttermilk, maple syrup, and sweet potato together.
Add to dough and pulse until dough just comes together.
Pour dough onto a floured work surface and gently knead the dough together into a disk. Pat down to 1 inch thickness using your hands. Use a 2-¾ inch circle cookie cutter to cut into biscuits.
Place onto the baking sheet and brush with additional buttermilk if desired for a golden exterior.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until browned.

Equipment Needed

Notes

¾ sweet potato puree is equal to the flesh of 1 medium sweet potato.
In place of sweet potato puree, use ⅔ cup canned or strained homemade pumpkin puree.
Use whole wheat, whole white wheat, or all-purpose flour in this recipe.
To keep these Sweet Potato Biscuits lighter, replace 3 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons of plain Greek yogurt.
Store leftover biscuits at room temperature in a sealed container for up to 3 days.
Freeze biscuits for up to 1 month if desired.

Nutrition

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This post was originally shared in 2016 but was updated in 2020 with new pictures and tips.