North Carolina grows more sweet potatoes than any other state, so it’s no surprise they find their way into the biscuit bowl come fall. Sweet potato biscuits have been on Southern tables for generations, especially around Thanksgiving, and they’re softer and a little sweeter than a plain buttermilk biscuit, with a warm orange color that looks like the season.
They’re as at home next to a plate of smothered steak and gravy as they are split open with a slice of country ham or a drizzle of honey.
One tip that makes it work: the mashed sweet potato must be completely cool, and so must the butter and buttermilk. Warm potato melts the butter before it ever hits the oven, and that butter is what gives you tall, tender layers. Cook the sweet potato the day before if you can.
Sweet potatoes vary in how wet they are, so add the buttermilk a little at a time. You want a soft, slightly sticky dough, not a wet one. Handle it as little as you can, and press the cutter straight down without twisting.
Allow about 35 to 40 minutes once the sweet potato is cooked and completely cool. This recipe makes approximately 8 to 10 biscuits; dough thickness and how you handle the scraps affect the final count. Start checking the bottoms early so the sweet potato’s sugars do not scorch.
Kitchen references
NC Department of Agriculture: sweetpotato production · King Arthur Baking: homemade self-rising flour
Recipe image is an AI-generated illustration.
Recipe Crusade recipe
Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuits
Soft, golden sweet potato biscuits made with self-rising flour and buttermilk, ready for butter, honey or a ladle of gravy.
Ingredients
Steps
- Start with fully cooled cooked sweet potato. Heat the oven to 425°F and position a rack in the upper-middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment rated for that temperature, or lightly grease a cast-iron skillet.
- Whisk the self-rising flour, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
- Cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the pieces are about the size of small peas.
- Stir the cooled sweet potato and 1/3 cup buttermilk together in a small bowl until smooth.
- Add the sweet potato mixture to the flour and stir with a fork just until a shaggy dough forms.
- Add more buttermilk a tablespoon at a time only if dry flour remains in the bottom of the bowl.
- Turn the dough onto a well-floured counter and pat it into a rectangle about 1 inch thick.
- Fold the dough in half, pat it back to 1 inch, and repeat the fold one more time.
- Cut biscuits with a floured 2 1/2-inch cutter, pressing straight down without twisting.
- Gently press the scraps together and cut the remaining biscuits.
- Set the biscuits on the pan so they barely touch, which helps them rise tall.
- Bake about 14 to 18 minutes until risen and golden, with no wet dough in the center. Check the bottoms at 12 minutes; shield the tops loosely with foil if they brown before the centers bake.
- Brush the hot biscuits with melted butter and serve warm.
Cook’s notes
Timing: about 35 to 40 minutes using already-cooked, cooled sweet potato; cooking and cooling the potato take extra time. Yield is approximate. Cooking the sweet potato: prick it and microwave on a microwave-safe plate, checking after 5 minutes, or bake at 400°F until very soft, usually 45 to 60 minutes depending on size. Scoop, mash and cool completely; measure 3/4 cup. Refrigerate cooked potato promptly if making ahead. Canned sweet potato should be unsweetened, drained, mashed and cooled; add buttermilk gradually. No self-rising flour? Whisk 2 cups all-purpose flour with 1 tbsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp table salt. No buttermilk? Add 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar to a measuring cup, then add milk to make 1/2 cup total; let stand 5 minutes and add only as needed. Freeze unbaked biscuits on a tray, then bag; bake from frozen, allowing extra time until cooked through. Cool baked biscuits and store airtight at room temperature for up to 2 days, or freeze for longer storage.