Sweet Potato Biscuits

When fall rolls around, my thoughts turn to sweet potatoes, but these sweet potato biscuits are good at any time of the year.

They bake up crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. They’re good as is, or with a little butter, and I’ve been known to drizzle honey on them too. They’re good for breakfast or alongside a meal. Don’t rule them out for a midnight snack either.

Ingredients

You’ll need a sweet potato, of course! Along with that count on the usual biscuit ingredients as shown below – flour, baking powder, buttermilk, shortening, and baking soda. These biscuits have some added sugar – not a lot, just enough to give them a mild sweet flavor.

Making Sweet Potato Biscuits

Use a hand grater or a food processor to grate the sweet potato. This process ensures that the sweet potato pieces cook quickly. Before adding it to the batter, pour some boiling water over the grated sweet potato and let it drain for a few minutes. I usually do this first and let it drain while I prepare the rest of the batter.

The rest of this recipe comes together quickly. Sift the dry ingredients, cut in the shortening, and then add the sweet potato and milk prior to turning the dough onto a floured cutting board.

These biscuits bake up so pretty. They’re brown on the outside but moist on the inside with bits of tasty sweet potato throughout. Because you grated the sweet potato and cooked it a little bit first, the pieces inside the cooked biscuit are nice and tender.

History of this Recipe

This recipe is adapted from one in a Potawatomi cookbook that was given to me by my mother. Sweet potatoes were commonly eaten by Native American tribes. Of course, this recipe has been modernized and I don’t cook with lard, so I made that change as well. This sweet potato biscuit recipe is easier to make than the original in every way. But in our modern times, with all of our conveniences, I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live along the banks of a river, catching fish and gathering wild rice for dinner, and maybe having these biscuits to go with the fish and rice. It all sounds pretty good to me.

If you’re a fan of biscuits, try these weekend biscuits and if you like sweet potatoes, try my sweet potato walnut crunch.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

These sweet potato biscuits are moist on the inside and crunchy on the outside. They’re great for breakfast or with meals.

Print Pin Rate

Course: Baked goods

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Author: Cook-n-Easy

Ingredients

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 T sugar
• 1 C grated sweet potato
• 2 T shortening
• 1 cup buttermilk

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Peel about half a large sweet potato.
• Grate the peeled potato.
• Measure one cup of grated potato.
• Put the grated potato in a sieve or colander and slowly pour about two cups of boiling water over it.
• Let the sweet potato drain while you put together the rest of the ingredients.
• Sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
• Add the sugar and stir the dry ingredients.
• Cut in the shortening
• Add the buttermilk and the sweet potato to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
• Put the batter on a floured cutting board and knead for about three to four minutes.
• Roll or pat them about 1/2 inch flat.
• Cut them into circles with a biscuit cutter.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Notes

• Use a can opened at both ends as a biscuit cutter if you don’t have an actual biscuit cutter.
• If you don’t have buttermilk, use regular milk, omit the baking soda, and add a teaspoon of salt.