Sweet Potato Biscuits

5 from 9 votes

These slightly sweet, buttery, flaky biscuits are so soft from the sweet potato. Based on a Martha Stewart recipe, they never disappoint.

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Any

Keyword: Sweet potato biscuits

Servings: biscuits

Calories: 164.6kcal

Author: Susan Pridmore

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato, or 2 small sweet potatoes (enough to make ¾ cup puréed)
⅓ cup buttermilk
1 ¾ cups (7.875 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter
1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter

Instructions

Peel the sweet potato(es), and slice into 1-inch cubes. Fill a heavy bottomed pot with enough water to cover them, and add a pinch of salt.
Bring to a simmer, and cook until tender. Strain and transfer to a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Purée until completely smooth. Stir in the buttermilk and chill in the refrigerator while you make the biscuits.
Preheat the oven to 425˚ F and butter a 10-inch pie plate or 8" X 8" baking dish with some of the melted butter.
Rinse the food processor and blade, and completely dry.
Place the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse a few times.
Cut the chilled butter into pats, and add them all at once to the food processor. Pulse until the butter is the size of peas.
Pro tip: The best way to check is to dip a fork into the flour and then lift it up. The butter pieces will be on the fork.
Spill the contents of the food processor into a large bowl. Add the chilled sweet potato all at once.
Using a rubber spatula, mash the sweet potatoes into the flour. Once it's mostly mixed into the flour, dump it all onto a work space and knead a few times to finish mixing the sweet potato, flour and butter together.
The best way to do this is to fold the dough on itself, bringing any stray flour and butter into the fold. Do this a few times. The finished dough will be a little lumpy.
Form the dough into a round 1-inch thick disc. If it becomes too sticky, sprinkle a little more flour over the top of the disc, and lightly massage it into the dough.
Using a 2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out 10 biscuits. A 3-inch biscuit cutter will yield 8 biscuits.
Scraps can be gathered together to create more biscuits, but it's best with this dough to not do it more than once.
Arrange the biscuits in the prepared baking dish, and baste with the remaining melted butter. They can fit together snugly. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until golden brown, turning them halfway through the baking.
If you have an instant thermometer, the internal temperature of the biscuits should be around 200˚ F. (At high altitude, you may only reach 195˚ F, which is fine.)
Serve warm.

Nutrition