It’s fall, and that means that I’m working sweet potatoes and pumpkin into everything. Why? They provide a subtle sweetness, a vibrant orange color, and a dose of extra nutrients. And in the case of these Sweet Potato Biscuits, the sweet potatoes keep the biscuits deliciously moist and tender. I think you’ll love these Sweet Potato Biscuits because they’re still super simple to make, and are a fun twist on the usual for your weekend breakfast, or even Thanksgiving dinner.
What do They Taste Like??
They taste like classic biscuits, but with a very subtle earthy sweetness. The small amount of nutmeg in the dough also gives the biscuits a warm, autumn flavor. They’re like regular biscuits, but extra special.
What Do You Serve with Sweet Potato Biscuits?
Because these biscuits are not overwhelmingly sweet, I think they’d go great served in either a sweet or savory meal. They’re great for breakfast, with eggs and sausage, or just smeared with butter and maple syrup (or honey). But they’d also be great as a side dish with a pot roast, chili, pumpkin soup, or even with Thanksgiving dinner.
Can You Freeze Sweet Potato Biscuits?
Absolutely! Biscuits are great for freezing. If you are cooking for yourself and don’t want the challenge of eating ten biscuits in the next few days, feel free to freeze half. You can freeze your sweet potato biscuits either before or after baking.
To freeze before baking, freeze them first on a parchment lined baking sheet, then transfer to a freezer bag once solid. You can then bake one or more as needed, straight from the freezer. They’ll just need a few extra minutes of bake time.
To freeze after baking, make sure they cool completely to room temperature first. Once cooled, place them in a freezer bag, then toss them in the freezer. They’ll be good in the freezer for about three months.
Do I have to Use a Microwave for the Sweet Potato?
Nope. I used the microwave to cook the sweet potato because it was fast and easy. You can definitely bake the sweet potato, if you like, but that will add about 45 minutes to the time needed to make this recipe (bake 400ºF for about 45 minutes, or until it is soft all the way through). You can also peel, dice, and boil the sweet potato, but keep in mind that this will add a lot more moisture to the biscuit dough, so you may need less milk to make the dough the correct consistency.
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Servings 10Ingredients
- 1 lb. sweet potato (1 cup mashed) ($1.29)
- 2.25 cups all-purpose flour, divided ($0.23)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder ($0.12)
- 1 Tbsp sugar ($0.02)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg ($0.02)
- 8 Tbsp butter, frozen (1 stick) ($1.04)
- 1 cup whole milk ($0.32)
Instructions
- Use a fork to prick the skin of the sweet potato several times. Place the sweet potato on a microwave safe plate, then microwave on high for 5 minutes. After five minutes, use the fork to pierce the sweet potato in the thickest part. If it's not very soft all the way through, microwave for an additional 1-2 minutes, or until the center is very soft.
- Carefully remove the sweet potato from the microwave (the plate will be VERY hot). Use a towel to grasp the sweet potato as you cut open the skin and scoop out the flesh. Scoop out one packed cup of sweet potato and place it in a medium bowl. Use the fork to mash the sweet potato until smooth. Set it aside to cool further.
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a separate large bowl, combine 2 cups of the all-purpose flour (reserving the last 1/4 cup for later), baking powder, sugar, salt, and nutmeg. Stir until these ingredients are very well combined.
- Use a cheese grater to grate the frozen butter into the bowl with the flour mixture. Take care to guard your fingers and knuckles when you get down to the end of the stick of butter. Stir the grated butter into the flour mixture until they are evenly combined.
- Add the milk to the bowl with the mashed sweet potato. Stir or whisk the sweet potato and milk together until they are well combined. A few small chunks of sweet potato are okay.
- Finally, pour the sweet potato and milk mixture into the bowl of flour and butter. Stir to combine the wet and dry ingredients until one cohesive ball of dough forms. Because sweet potatoes can vary in moisture content, you may need to add extra flour or milk to the dough to get the right consistency. The biscuit dough should be slightly sticky, but not so wet that it is glossy, and no dry flour should remain on the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too dry (not forming a single ball of dough) add a couple tablespoons of milk. If it's too wet, dust it liberally with the reserved flour.
- Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface. Press it down into a flat circle, about 1-inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter or a drinking glass to cut biscuits from the dough. Gather up the dough scraps, reshape them into a 1-inch thick circle, and cut more biscuits. Repeat this until no more dough remains. Place the cut biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake the biscuits for about 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown on top. Serve warm, with butter or maple syrup.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Enamelware Salad Plate
Nutrition
Love sweet potatoes? ME TOO! Check out some of my other favorite sweet potato recipes: Baked Sweet Potato fries with Peanut Lime Dressing, Streuseled Sweet Potatoes, Chorizo Sweet Potato Enchiladas, Sweet Potato Casserole Baked Oatmeal, or Sweet Potato Tacos with Lime Crema.
How to Make Sweet Potato Biscuits – Step By Step Photos
Start by pricking a one pound sweet potato several times with a fork. This allows steam to escape the sweet potato as it cooks, which will prevent it from exploding in the microwave.
Place the sweet potato on a microwave-safe plate and cook on high for 5 minutes, or until it is tender all the way through. You can test the sweet potato by poking it again with the fork in its thickest spot. The fork should pierce the sweet potato easily. If it’s still hard in the center, microwave for 1-2 minutes longer. Carefully remove the sweet potato from the microwave (the plate will be HOT). Let it cool slightly.
Carefully scoop one cup of the sweet potato flesh out into a bowl (use a towel to hold the hot sweet potato as you scoop). Mash the sweet potato until it is mostly smooth.
Add one cup of whole milk to the mashed sweet potato, then stir or whisk until it is mostly smooth. A few small chunks of sweet potato are fine.
Begin preheating the oven to 400ºF. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 Tbsp baking powder, 1 Tbsp sugar, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg. Stir the ingredients together until they are very well combined.
Grate one stick (8 Tbsp) of frozen butter into the flour mixture. Stir until the grated butter is well combined with the flour mixture. The small pieces of butter throughout are what will make the biscuits a little flakey.
Pour the milk and sweet potato mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until a cohesive ball of dough forms. Sweet potatoes can vary in their moisture content, so you may need to adjust the flour or milk to get the right texture dough.
The sweet potato biscuit dough should look like this. Shaggy, sticky, but not glossy and wet. No dry flour should be left on the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too dry (lots of little pieces, dry flour left in the bowl), add a tablespoon or two of milk. If the dough is too wet (very sticky or glossy), add some of the reserved flour.
Use some of the reserved flour to liberally dust a work surface. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface and press it down into a 1-inch thick circle. Use a biscuit cutter or glass to cut biscuits out of the dough (my glass was 3 inches in diameter). Gather up the scraps, press it down again, and cut more biscuits. Repeat until no more biscuits can be cut.
Place the biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
Serve the sweet potato biscuits while warm. The golden brown color can be kind of masked by their orange hue, so make sure to check closely as you get close to 20 minutes!
I like mine with butter (yes, more butter) and just a little maple syrup for extra autumn-y goodness.
I just made these are they are amazing. I used coconut oil instead of butter and unsweetened almond milk. I am planning on eating them for breakfast with a little bit of jam.
Hi!! I would like to ask If I can sub all purpose flour to wheat ot spelt flour? Thanks in advance! 😊
I wouldn’t suggest substituting more than 50% for whole wheat flour, or the texture will suffer greatly (dense and heavy). I’ve never cooked with spelt flour, though, so I can’t advise on that one. :)
Ok, thank you! 😃
I have subbed white whole wheat flour or whole pastry flour in a lot of things I bet it would work for this.
You could also use white spelt just like white flour.
Can I do the dough and save it to bake it next day?
I’ve frozen biscuit dough before, but I haven’t simply refrigerated it before. I think the only issue you might have is that the baking powder may slowly react while it’s in the refrigerator instead of the oven. Most items with baking powder need to be baked (or frozen) right away for best results. I haven’t tested it, though, so I can’t say for sure.
This is my second time making these delicious biscuits. I have a 18 months old baby boy and, I am not into baking at all, but when I find something this easy and good, I need to at least give it a go. Well, these are so yummy and soft. I use almond milk, coconut oil and add chia and flax seeds to the dough.
Yummy, yummy.
These look great. Do you think it would be ok to use either 2% milk or half and half in place of whole milk. I never have whole milk but I always have the others in the fridge.
Yep, I think either would probably work fine. :)
So this is what Americans mean when they say ‘biscuits’. These look like they’d go really well with a nice steak and some peppercorn gravy.
These were a great Thanksgiving side dish last week. Interestingly, neither my girlfriend or I could really pick up on the sweet potato once the biscuits were baked–they just tasted like good old-fashioned biscuits!
We used a white sweet potato. Next time, I may try an orange one–the kind that are sometimes referred to as yams in the US, though I’m not sure that’s 100% accurate.
Thanks!
Do you think it would work if the sweet potato was baked instead of microwaved?
Yes, absolutely. I just used the microwave to shorten the process. :)
Hello! We have a cow’s milk allergy in our house. Do you think it would work out just as well if I use coconut milk for the whole milk, and either olive oil OR coconut oil in place of the butter? Thank you!
I would use coconut oil in place of the butter because you need a solid fat to help make it flakey. Olive oil will just absorb into the flour and create a different texture. I’m not sure about the milk, though, because I’ve never tried using coconut milk in a baked good before. :)
I have substituted coconut milk for cow’s milk in baking (usually because my hubby drinks the last of the milk without my knowledge, haha). It’s a 1:1 substitution, and I didn’t notice much of a difference in the banana muffins I made. Hope that helps!
Did this work with coconut oil? Did you freeze the coconut oil like the butter? (We also have EB soy free butter alternative as an option but because of the number of substitutions I will need to make, I like to try to use something someone else has tried with success!)
Ive made these with almond milk before and they turned out great. I use almond and almond/coconut milk in biscuits all the time with no problems
Can you substitute butternut squash for the sweet potato?
I haven’t tried it, but I suspect it will work. :)
For those who want to try substituting pumpkin, you may want to try an America’s Test Kitchen trick: saute the pumpkin until it thickens/dries some. It also helps get a deeper, sweeter flavor from the pumpkin as it caramelizes and (so ATK says) gets rid of the “tinny” flavor of the can.
Great tip! I can’t wait to try it!
Try baking these in a slow cooker, it brings out the sugar and makes them easier to peel. I also do this when I have to be out and want baked potatoes for dinner.
When I want sweet potatoes to use in baking, I put them in my slow cooker. The low slow cooking brings out the sugars and loosens the skins.
Oh wow. I just happen to have a sweet potato in the pantry…as well as ham lunchmeat in the fridge. Sweet potato biscuit-ham-sandwiches it is! Thank you for this amazing recipe!!!
I just made these for Thanksgiving and they’re GREAT! Instead of white sugar, I used brown. I also tried something new by adding my brother’s extra pumpkin pie filling instead of 3/4 cup milk. I added a couple splashes of milk in with the pumpkin pie/sweet potato mix to reach a higher viscosity. They came out great! Thanks, Beth.