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.
This post contains affiliate links. Please read my full disclosure here.
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 1/2 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
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
- Add in Greek yogurt, mashed sweet potatoes, and butter.
- Use a fork to mix.
- Lay out the dough on a floured surface. Use your hands or a pin to roll the dough out 7×7 and 1/2 inch in height.
- Use a biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits, or cut them any way you like.
- 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 1/2 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
Easy Sweet Potato Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sweetener or sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter Butter should be cold.
- 1/4 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup cooked mashed sweet potato The sweet potato should be chilled and not freshly cooked.
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Optional Honey Butter
- 4 teaspoons butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
Instructions
Biscuits
- Combine flour, baking powder, sweetener, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
- Add in the Greek yogurt, mashed sweet potatoes, and butter.
- Use a fork to mix. Do not over-mix. Take the fork and knead the butter throughout the mix. You will notice the dough will become flaky and there will be some flour that remains in the bowl. This is ok. If you overmix the dough it will result in biscuits that are tough and hard.
- Spread the dough out on a floured surface. Use your hands or a pin to roll the dough out 7×7 and 1/2 inch in height. If you want thick biscuits, roll out the dough so that it's 1 inch high. This will result in less biscuits. Don't overwork the dough.
- Use a biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits, or cut them any way you like. If you use a biscuit cutter, reallocate the dough and roll it out again for additional biscuits using the excess dough.
- Beat the egg in a small bowl and combine it with the water and stir. Brush the top of each biscuit with the egg wash.
Air Fryer Instructions
- Line the air fryer basket with air fryer parchment paper. You can only use parchment paper made for the air fryer. This helps prevent the bottom of the biscuits from browning too fast and potential burning. You can go without it, but keep that in mind.
- Air fry for 4 minutes on 300 degrees.
- Adjust the temperature to 400 degrees for 2-5 minutes until the biscuits have turned a deep golden brown.
Oven Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper
- Place the biscuits on the parchment paper.
- Bake the biscuits for 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown and the bottom appears crisp.
Optional Honey Butter
- Combine the butter and honey and mix. Add more or less if you wish. In general, the rule of thumb is 1/3 of the amount of honey to the amount of butter used.
Video
Notes
- 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.
- I prefer the results of the air fryer vs baking these biscuits. The biscuits turned a beautiful golden color on top using the air fryer. There’s also less risk of burning the bottom of the biscuits in the air fryer. When using the oven you have to watch closely and time it just right so that you don’t burn the bottom of the biscuits.
- You don’t want to overmix the dough. If you overmix 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.
- An egg wash is used to get a deep brown color. You can omit it if you wish.
- 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.
Linda
Saturday 6th of February 2021
can i use almond flour instead of ap?
staysnatched
Saturday 6th of February 2021
I would assume so. I haven't tested it, so you will have to test out the amount.
Skip
Wednesday 21st of October 2020
Can I use whole wheat flour in this recipe?
staysnatched
Monday 26th of October 2020
I haven't tried that, I would assume so.
Caitlin
Tuesday 21st of July 2020
These were great! Nice, slightly sweet flavor :) And the honey butter is a MUST. Also - listen to Brandi and don't over-mix. I definitely over-mixed this time but they were still good! Definitely going to make them again and I'll follow directions better this time lol
staysnatched
Tuesday 21st of July 2020
I'm glad you enjoyed them!
PAT
Monday 20th of July 2020
BRANDI CAN THE SWEET POTATO BISCUITS BE MADE WITH GLUTEN FREE FLOUR. THANK YOU. PAT.
staysnatched
Monday 20th of July 2020
Maybe. I've never used gluten free flour so I haven't tested it.
Shauna
Sunday 19th of July 2020
Easy to follow recipe made it the first time I was about to successfully make biscuits! I air fried the sweet potatoes earlier in the day and then also air fried the biscuits. So nice not to need the oven!
staysnatched
Monday 20th of July 2020
Yay! So glad you liked them!