Sweet Potato Biscuits
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Roast the sweet potato a day ahead if you can, and the morning is only folding, cutting and baking. They rise tall and golden orange, brushed with melted butter and a little salt, and there's always an argument over the last one.
The short version
Roast a sweet potato and mash it with buttermilk and brown sugar. Grate frozen butter into the flour, stir in the sweet potato mixture, fold the dough a few times, cut, and bake at 425°F for 15 to 20 minutes. Roast the potato a day ahead if you can.
What makes ours better
why ours wins the argument at dinner
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Roast the sweet potato, don't boil it. Roasting concentrates the sugar and drives off water. A boiled potato makes a wet dough and a pale, flat flavor.
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Grate the butter frozen. Frozen shreds disappear into the flour in seconds without warming up, so they melt in the oven and leave tall, tender layers.
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Fold the dough in thirds, twice. Two quick folds stack the butter into layers so the biscuits rise instead of spreading. More than two and they turn tough.
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Brush with melted butter and salt. The butter browns the tops and the pinch of salt keeps the sweet potato from tasting like dessert.
What you need
the stars of the show
- Mashed roasted sweet potato1 cup
- Cold buttermilk½ cup
- Packed light brown sugar2 tablespoons
- All-purpose flour3 cups
- Unsalted butter¾ cup
Sweet potato mixture
Biscuits
tap each one as it goes in. no double-salting.
Steps
apron on. phone down. mostly.
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Roast the sweet potato
Heat the oven to 425°F. Prick the sweet potato all over with a fork, set it on a foil-lined sheet and roast until it slumps and a knife slides in with no resistance, 45 to 60 minutes. Let it cool, peel it, and mash it smooth. Measure 1 cup.
Canned puree works, but make sure the label says puree and not pie filling.
About 50 min. Cook mode has a timer for this step.
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Mix the sweet potato mixture
Whisk the cup of mashed sweet potato with the buttermilk and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Put it in the fridge while you make the dry mix.
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Heat the oven, mix the dry
Heat the oven to 425°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
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Grate in the butter
Grate the frozen butter on the large holes of a box grater straight into the flour, tossing with your fingers every few passes so the shreds stay separate. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs with flat flakes of butter.
Don't rub the butter in with your fingers. Warm hands soften it, and soft butter makes flat biscuits.
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Stir in the sweet potato
Pour in the sweet potato mixture and stir with a spatula just until a shaggy, sticky dough forms and no dry flour is left. It will be softer than ordinary biscuit dough.
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Fold and pat out
Turn the dough onto a well-floured counter and flour the top. Pat it into a rough rectangle about 1 inch thick. Fold it in thirds like a letter, turn it a quarter turn, pat it out again and fold once more. Pat it into a round about ¾ inch thick.
Flour your hands as often as you need to. The dough is sticky, but extra flour on the counter is better than extra flour in the dough.
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Cut the biscuits
Dip a 2½-inch round cutter in flour and press straight down, with no twisting, so the edges can rise. Cut close together. Set the biscuits on the sheet with their sides touching. Gently pat the scraps together once and cut again.
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Brush and bake
Brush the tops with the melted butter and sprinkle with flaky salt. Bake until the biscuits are risen and golden brown on top and bottom, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm.
About 15 min. Cook mode has a timer for this step.
Good to know
the stuff I’d tell you over the phone
- Roast the sweet potato up to 3 days ahead and keep the mash in the fridge. Bring it back to cool, not warm, before mixing so it doesn't soften the butter.
- No buttermilk? Stir 1½ teaspoons lemon juice into ½ cup of whole milk and let it sit 5 minutes. Keep the baking soda, which needs the acid.
- For a spiced version, whisk ½ teaspoon cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg into the flour.
- To make drop biscuits with no rolling, add 2 to 3 tablespoons more buttermilk and scoop the dough onto the sheet with a large spoon.
- Storage. Room temperature in an airtight container, 2 days. Fridge, 4 days. Freeze baked biscuits 2 months, and reheat wrapped in foil at 300°F for 10 to 15 minutes.
Questions, answered
asked and answered at the kitchen counter
Can I use canned sweet potato puree?
Yes, as long as it's plain puree and not sweetened pie filling. Canned puree is wetter than roasted, so blot it with a paper towel and flour the counter generously.
Why are my sweet potato biscuits dense or flat?
Usually the butter warmed up, the dough was overworked, or the cutter was twisted and sealed the edges. Keep the butter frozen, fold only twice and press the cutter straight down.
Can I freeze the dough before baking?
Yes. Cut the biscuits, freeze them on a sheet pan for an hour, then bag them. Bake straight from frozen at 425°F and add 4 to 6 minutes.
Can I make these ahead for Thanksgiving?
Bake them the day before and reheat wrapped in foil at 300°F for 10 to 15 minutes. Or freeze the cut biscuits and bake them while the turkey rests.
Can I use yams?
The orange-fleshed sweet potatoes sold as yams in US grocery stores are fine. Real yams are a different, starchy root and won't work.
From the table
Made it? I want the full report: first bite, best compliment, and who tried to take the leftovers home.
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Published October 29, 2026.