Easy Sweet Potato Biscuits

These Easy Sweet Potato Biscuits are homemade from scratch and are a healthy alternative to traditional rolls. These biscuits are made with Greek yogurt and with no shortening. Serve these with honey butter.

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Sweet potatoes have been engrained in my culture for all of my life. Recipes for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays are always filled with sweet potatoes or yams. 

I recall the first time I had a sweet potato muffin. It's different from the biscuit in this recipe, but it certainly inspired it. The sweet potato muffin was from a local soul food restaurant here in Kansas City. It was life-changing!

These biscuits are for breakfast, a side dish, or you can really sweeten them up for dessert, too!

How Many Sweet Potatoes You Need

You will only need one sweet potato, large enough to get ½ cup mashed sweet potatoes from it.

How to Make Them Healthier Using Greek Yogurt

Greek yogurt is used in this recipe to replace shortening and extra butter. Using plain, non-fat Greek yogurt will lower both the calories and fat in this recipe significantly. If you don't want to use Greek yogurt you can use butter.

Shortening, like Crisco, is found in most homemade biscuit recipes. Shortening often has high trans fat content. It is usually made with hydrogenated vegetable oil. These oils can impact heart health and cholesterol. 

You can read more about the nutrition of shortening here.

How to Handle Biscuit Dough

Biscuit dough is a lot different than cookie dough, pie crust, and other baked goods. When you mix the ingredients the mixture will be really dry. You should actually still see a good amount of flour. This is ok. 

You don't want to over-mix the dough. If you over-mix the dough, gluten from the flour will develop which results in biscuits that are tough and hard. This may take some practice and getting used to.

Use a light and gentle touch while mixing. You want to try to handle it as little as possible. The more you handle it, the more the biscuits will shrink. I'm more concerned with the flavor of the biscuits than I am the size. If you are focused on size, be sure to keep this in mind.

If your biscuits shrink or turn out tough and hard, you likely over-mixed the dough and released too much gluten.

How to Make Sweet Potato Biscuits

1. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
2. Add in Greek yogurt, mashed sweet potatoes, and butter.
3. Use a fork to mix.
4. Lay out the dough on a floured surface. Use your hands or a pin to roll the dough out 7x7 and ½ inch in height.
5. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits, or cut them any way you like.
6. Air fry or bake.

How to Store Them

You can store them in the fridge or out on the counter at room temperature.

How Long Do They Last

You can leave them out at room temperature for 2 days. Store them in the fridge for 4-5 days.

What to Pair With the Biscuits/What Goes Well

Air Fryer Fried Chicken
Keto Smothered Pork Chops
Smothered Chicken
Pan-Seared Salmon
Instant Pot Southern Green Beans
Southern Mustard Greens
Okra and Tomatoes

Freezer Tips

Make sure the biscuits are completely cool before freezing. Freeze them in a resealable bag up to 3 months. Thaw the biscuits on the counter at room temperature or in the fridge overnight.

You can bake or air fry them again for a few minutes until warm.

Tips and Tricks

• If you've ever eaten at Popeyes Chicken, these biscuits remind me of the texture of those and is a large part of the inspiration for this recipe!
• All of your ingredients should be cold. You don't want to use a fresh, warm sweet potato. 
• Make sure your butter is cold. You don't want the butter to fully mix into the flour. That way it forms flakes in the dough, which will help add layers to the biscuits.
• If you don't want to use Greek yogurt, you can use butter.
• If your biscuits shrink or turn out tough and hard, you likely over-mixed the dough and released too much gluten.
• An egg wash is used to get a deep brown color. You can omit it if you wish.
• If you want tall thick biscuits, shape the dough higher. I did ½ inch but you can easily cut the number of biscuits and half, and fold the dough 1 inch high.
• If you are looking for really flaky biscuits, those require shortening. If you have ever had a good Southern biscuit, you know what I mean. Shortening shortens the strands of gluten and has a higher melting point than butter. This results in crumbly biscuits. This recipe is designed to be healthier and does not have shortening, so they will not have the same effect.
• A lot of recipes use self-rising flour. This recipe is designed to be easy using common ingredients found at home. Use it if you wish. You won't need salt and baking powder.

More Sweet Pot
ato Recipes

Sweet Potatoes Au Gratin
Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries
Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Healthy Southern Sweet Potato Pie
Air Fryer Sweet Potato Chips

Cornbread Recipes

Homemade Classic Southern Cornbread
Keto Low Carb Cornbread
Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
Homemade Blueberry Cornbread
Air Fryer Cornbread
Honey Cornbread
Homemade Maple Butter
Cornbread Muffins