Flaky Sweet Potato Biscuits

As the leaves turn vibrant shades of red and orange and a cozy autumn chill fills the air….  Hahahahaha  just kidding.  It’s still 90 degrees here in the South. We might catch a chill in the air in November, but until then, I’m going to go ahead and keep baking all of my fall favorites.  Sweet potato biscuits, with a nice flaky center are a delightful addition to any fall meal. These Sweet Potato Biscuits  will melt in your mouth and elevate any meal. 

Disclaimer

If you don’t know how to make sweet potato purée, read this first and then come back.  Otherwise, be prepared for an incredibly flaky and decadent Sweet Potato Biscuit. 

Ingredients for Sweet Potato Biscuits

1. Let’s start at the top, with the sweet potato purée.  My preferred method is to roast the sweet potatoes at 400ºF until the sweet potatoes are soft to the touch.  Depending on the size of the potato that could be an hour or more.  Pro Tip: Make sure you line the baking sheet with parchment paper.  Once the Potatoes are done baking, I puree themin my food processor.  If you prefer boiling and mashing the sweet potatoes, go for it.  No matter what method you choose, the end result should be the same 1 ½ cup of sweet potato purée. 
2. Flours.  This recipe is extra and calls for both all purpose and cake flour.  Spring for the cake flour, I promise it’s worth it.  But if you can’t get it, just use all purpose flour— my preference is White Lily Flour. 
3. Fats.  Butter and vegetable shortening are used in this recipe, with a higher concentration of butter.  I like having vegetable shortening in the mix because it provides a little bit of flexibility if the dough takes longer to come together. 
4. Buttermilk.  Full Fat Buttermilk is required.  
5. Sugar/ Raising Agents.  Different from my other sweet potato recipe, this one calls for a bit of sugar. The raising agents are the usual suspects, baking powder and baking soda. 

Process

1. Measure out the dry ingredients first and set aside. 
2. Cut in the vegetable shortening and butter into the flour.  Toss the butter with the flour to prevent a solid clump of butter from forming.  Place the whole bowl into the freezer for 30 minutes. 
3. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. 
4. Remove the bowl from the freezer.  Create a well in the flour and add in the sweet potato puree.  Stir the puree gently to distribute before adding in the buttermilk.   Stir until the dough just comes together, but there may be dry bits. 
5. Scrape the dough out onto a floured countertop and pat the dough together to gather any dry bits.   Pat  the dough out into a 1 inch thick rectangle and perform  “letter folds”.  Fold one short end of the dough to the center and fold the opposite end of the dough on top of the first dough.  Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat the letter folds process two more times. 
6. Pat the dough into an even 1 inch rectangle.  Dip a 2 inch biscuit cutter into flour and cut the biscuits out.  [don’t twist the cutters!]  Refold any leftover scraps and cut out additional biscuits.  As a general rule, I try not to refold the dough more than once, because the more the dough is handled the tougher the biscuits will be. 

Tips/Tricks 

1. Use a large metal bowl if you have one. 
2. To “cut in the butter” use a grater to grate the butter straight from the fridge into the flour.  Toss the butter with the flour as you go, so that you don’t end up with a giant clump of butter. 
3. Use the Freezer to your advantage.    Once the butter is cut into the flour, put the entire bowl in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes before adding the wet ingredients.  This gives the grated butter a chance to firm up before the dough is rolled out.  Which creates a flaky biscuit. 
4. Keep everything as cold as possible.  This includes the sweet potato puree.

These Flaky Sweet Potato Biscuits are a true testament to the magic that happens when comfort food meets creativity in the kitchen. The rich, earthy flavors of sweet potatoes combined with the buttery, flaky texture of biscuits create a mouthwatering experience that's hard to resist. Flaky Sweet Potato Biscuits are the perfect addition to breakfast, lunch or dinner. So go ahead, whip up a batch, and indulge in a taste of comfort like no other!

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