Sweet potato biscuits

These sweet potato biscuits are wonderfully soft, tender, buttery and delicious. They have a fantastic color form the sweet potato in the dough which also gives a nice lightness and extra flavor. Perfect alongside a meal, to make mini sandwiches or simply to snack on.

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It's sometimes easy for me to forget that there are a number of foods I just hadn't come across (at least not with the names here) before I moved to the US. For me it's one of the best bits about living somewhere different: discovering and incorporating local ingredients and recipes.

The same was very much true when I lived in Spain - romesco de peix (Catalan fish stew), paella and various Spanish tapas are now pretty common in our house thanks to my time there.

Some American dishes have become regulars on our menu, including mains like pulled pork, ribs or New England stuffed clams, and sides like collards and biscuits.

What are American bisuits?

The name "biscuit" comes from the Latin "biscotus" which means twice baked. Italian biscotti very much follow that, and the original British biscuits were very firm and dry in order to last for a long period for those at sea. Even more modern biscuits, more like cookies, typically have that firmer texture and "snap".

American biscuits evolved from the same idea but evolved into a lighter more bread-like item, and these days are more similar to British scones but generally savory. This article has a fascinating overview of their history.

Sweet potato biscuits are a common variation on your basic American biscuit. Sometimes they are sweetened, other times they have a bit of added warm spice. Here I have kept things simple and relied on the natural sweetness in the sweet potatoes. They only need a handful of ingredients but the result is deliciously good.

Tips for making sweet potato biscuits

While there's a little more work to these since you need to cook the sweet potato ahead of time, these biscuits are still really easy to make. You can steam the sweet potato, cook in the microwave or my preference is to roast them.

Roasting really brings out their natural sweetness and flavor, so is well worth doing if you can. I try to either roast extra with another meal or add them in the oven if it's on already a day or two before.

Then, the key is to work the mixture as minimally as possible.

Rub the butter into the dry ingredients so that you still have a few lumps left in the mixture. These little lumps are what later transforms into light layers in the dough.

Next, you thin out the sweet potato with the milk so it's all easier to incorporate into the flour-butter mixture. It might seem like it's not going to come together at first, but with a little handling it will.

After that, fold the dough over on top of itself a couple times, which again helps with forming those layers. This also is part of the mixing rather than any more intensive kneading which would take away from the light texture. As I say, you want to handle as little as possible.

Cut circles form the dough, bring together the scraps and cut more, as works, then bake until golden. You can also simply cut the dough into squares as suits.

The sweet potato gives these such a lovely orange color and I like that you can make them moist without needing quite as much butter as you might for plain biscuits. Although you don't want to cut it back too much as it's the butter that makes those fantastic layers.

They have a wonderful soft texture and make the perfect accompaniment to your meal. We sometimes have them alongside some Carolina-style pulled pork or ribs, or simply snack on them as they are.

If we have leftovers, they go in lunchboxes with cheese and/or sliced meats (although as with most baked goods, they are best fresh).

These sweet potato biscuits are a lovely variation on a Southern classic that are delicious alongside a whole range of foods. Or you can eat them on their own as a snack. They're easy to make, quick to bake and only need a few ingredients, so you have every excuse to give them a try. Add them into regular rotation as we have!

Try these other bready sides:

• Chestnut bread rolls (made partly with chestnut flour, they similarly have a lovely slight sweetness)
• Damper bread (a classic Australian quick bread, similar to a soda bread)
• Parsnip biscuits (similar to these but made with parsnips)
• Apple and cheddar cheese Yorkshire pudding (a tasty twist on a British classic)
• Plus get more side dish recipes of all kinds in the archives.

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store. 

Try these other takes on biscuits:

• Buttermilk Biscuit Mixed Berry Shortcake by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Maple and Bacon Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits by Making Miracles
• Bacon Honey Mustard Biscuits by Food Lust People Love
• Biscuit French Toast by The Freshman Cook

This post was first shared in May 2016 and has been updated with a few recipe tweaks, additional information and new photos.

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