Homemade Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuits
These light and flaky sweet potato biscuits are a delicious Southern treat that you're going to love. Made with mashed sweet potatoes and buttermilk, these biscuits are still light and fluffy. To achieve the perfect texture and taste, make sure to use cold butter and handle the dough gently.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups sweet potatoes (cooked and mashed)
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspooon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 8 tablespoons butter (one stick, cold)
- ½ cup pecans (chopped)
- ¾ cup buttermilk (cold)
- 1 tablespoon butter (melted)
Instructions
- Cook sweet potatoes in the microwave. (Wrap in damp paper towel and microwave for 3 minutes, turn and microwave for 3 more minutes depending on the size of the potatoes) In the alternative, bake in the oven. Let cook, squeeze off the peelings and mash with a fork in a large bowl.
- Lightly grease a 10 inch iron skillet or 10 inch cake pan.
- In a food processor, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar. Process to combine. Add cubes of cold butter and process until they are pea size. In the alternative, use a pastry blender or two forks to incorporate the butter.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the cooled sweet potatoes and buttermilk. Add to the dry ingredients along with the chopped pecans and mix until just combined, it should look crumbly but should be a little sticky. If too dry, add a little more buttermilk and if too wet, add more flour.
- Turn out the dough on to a floured surface and form into a rough rectangle. With a knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into 3-4 portions and stack them on top of each other. Roll out and repeat 3 times.
- Roll dough into a 1 inch thick rectangle. Use 2 inch biscuit cutter, cut the biscuits, going straight down, do not twist and place in the prepared pan next to each other. Roll up the scrapes one time and form into a biscuit.
- Place the skillet in the freezer for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450º. Remove from the freezer and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown on top.
- Remove from the oven and immediately brush with melted butter.
Barbara's Notes + Tips
- Cook the sweet potatoes in advance so they have time to cool, you don't want to add warm sweet potatoes to the biscuit dough.
- Try not to handle the dough with your hands any more than you have to, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough.
- Don't leave out cooling the dough before baking, that will firm up the butter and help them rise.
- If using a cake pan, they will take longer to cook then an iron skillet.
Nutrition
Calories: 259kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 220mg | Potassium: 237mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 4221IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 2mg
