Sweet Potato Biscuits are light and fluffy, yet filled with the subtle flavor and sweetness of sweet potato puree.

Serve these biscuits alongside a hearty bowl of Crockpot Chili or Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili. Their subtle sweetness is especially good with a smoky, savory chili.

While there is nothing quite like a homemade buttermilk biscuit, these Sweet Potato Biscuits are a delicious, unexpected spin-off of 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 sweet potato puree isn't prominent in these biscuits, it keeps them moist and tender and cuts down on the butter needed in the dough. The puree also adds a hint of sweetness to the dough.

Key Ingredients

• Flour: Use whole wheat, whole white wheat, or all-purpose flour for the biscuit dough.
• Baking Powder: Make sure your baking powder isn't expired so your biscuits rise. Another tip: 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 leftover canned pumpkin or homemade pumpkin puree in place of the sweet potato, but will need to make adjustments to the measurements; see the 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 that keep them super tender and light. I love grating my butter on a cheese grater, then placing it in the freezer for 5 minutes to get it really cold.
• Buttermilk: If you don't have buttermilk, you can make homemade buttermilk by adding ½ tablespoon lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar to a glass measuring cup. Add enough milk or non-dairy milk to equal ⅔ cup total liquid and let sit for 5-10 minutes before using. You may not need the full amount.
• Dairy-free Sweet Potato Waffles: Replace the buttermilk with homemade non-dairy buttermilk. Make non-dairy buttermilk by combining lemon juice or vinegar with unsweetened almond milk, unsweetened soy milk, or canned coconut milk.
• Maple Syrup: Maple syrup helps bring out the flavor of the sweet potato and adds sweetness to 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 the flour and baking soda together.
• Add the cold butter and pulse a couple of times until it breaks down into small, pea-sized pieces.
• In a separate bowl or large glass measuring cup, mix together the buttermilk, syrup, and sweet potato until well combined. If you simply add these ingredients to your flour mixture, you risk overmixing your biscuit dough.
• Add the mixture to the 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.

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

Pro-Tips to Remember

• Use cold ingredients. The butter, buttermilk, and sweet potato puree should be very cold 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 cookie cutter, or any cookie cutter you like.
• How to use dough scraps. You can pat extra dough back together once to make 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, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 24 hours or refrigerate 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

Serve these sweet potato biscuits 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 an oven-poached egg, homemade breakfast sausage, 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 any of my chili recipes, such as Instant Pot Chili or Lentil Chili.

More Sweet Potato Recipes

• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Sweet Potato Oatmeal
• Sweet Potato Tacos
• Sweet Potato Burritos
• Sweet Potato Pancakes

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

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