Sweet Potato Biscuits

Who doesn't love a fluffy, steamy biscuit fresh out of the oven, especially when slathered in butter? These golden beauties are a fantastic spin on a classic Southern recipe that your whole family will love. Trust me when I say there will be no leftovers.

Makes about 12 biscuits

Course Bread, Side Dish

Cuisine soul, Southern

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 382kcal

Author Imma

Ingredients

2½ cups (300g) all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off with back edge of knife
3-4 tablespoons (50g) sugar
4 teaspoons (16g) baking powder
1 teaspoon (6g) salt
12 tablespoons (170g) unsalted butter, frozen and grated
1 cup (240ml) sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed

Instructions

Sift flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Quickly grate frozen butter into the bowl of flour. Alternatively, you quickly cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs; this might take about 5 minutes. Your flour should be crumbly with pea-size chunks. Let the bowl rest in the fridge if there is any wait time.
Make a well in the center of the bowl, add mashed sweet potatoes, and stir until it barely comes together. DO NOT OVER-MIX because you want those flakes. Let the dough rest in the fridge for about 10 minutes while you prepare your work surface.
Sprinkle flour onto a board or clean surface. Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on the board. Knead 3-4 times - just enough for it to come together. You will still see flakes of butter in the dough. Again don't overmix.
Gently, gently pat the dough with your hands or roll it out to about ½″ thick.
Fold the dough, repeating the folding process 6-8 times. This ensures flakiness, so go easy on the rolling process. After the folding is complete, gently press the dough down to 1 inch thick, ready to be cut.
Use a 2- or 3-inch round cookie cutter or a rim of a glass to cut out the biscuits. Firmly push it straight down, then pull it up. Use your fingers to gently loosen the dough from the cutter and space them out equally across your prepared baking sheet.
Knead any leftover scraps of dough and repeat until all of the dough is used up. They might not look as pretty as the rest, but they will pass the taste test.
Lightly brush with buttermilk or cream.
Bake at 400℉/205℃ for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. While they are baking, melt the butter.
Remove the biscuits from the oven, immediately brush them with melted butter, and serve with honey if desired.

Notes

Grated butter ensures even fat distribution throughout the dough, making it light and fluffy, but it melts pretty quickly. If that happens, your biscuits could turn out tough or dense. That's why it's important to use frozen butter and rest the dough in the fridge. If you are worried this could be an issue when incorporating the butter with your hands, you can use a pastry blender to quickly cut the butter into the flour mixture. It might take a few minutes, but the heat from your hands won't melt the butter.
Always let your biscuits rest for a few minutes after removing them from the oven before serving. This allows time for the crumb to set and will keep the biscuits light and airy when you cut them open or bite into them. If you dig in without resting them, (1) you'll probably burn yourself (speaking from experience here, lol), and (2) the biscuit will likely compress, making the dough feel chewy and not-so-scrumptious.
Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.

Nutrition