Let’s Have Breakfast: Sweet Potato Biscuits

Let’s Have Breakfast: Sweet Potato Biscuits

by Emily

Of the foods that have taken the health world by storm, sweet potato is one of my least favorite. Give me kale, give me quinoa, give me dulse—but give me a regular old white potato any day.

White potatoes, however, have nothing to do with biscuits…and sweet potatoes, gloriously, do! I made these as the topping for my Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie, which I have to say, was a genius move. But these are delicious on their own, for breakfast, for a snack, or for dessert with whipped cream and jam. And you can make them with regular old gluten-y flour or you can make them gluten-free.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Makes 6–8 biscuits. *Gluten-Free optional, Vegetarian
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Ingredients
  

  • 8 Tbsp 1 stick cold unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 3/4 cups flour + more for cutting board
  • 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 cup cooked mashed sweet potato

To make gluten-free:

  • substitute Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour blend
  • add 1 tsp arrowroot flour

Instructions
 

  • Put butter in the freezer before you start to make sure it’s very cold. Then mix milk with lemon juice to make buttermilk, and put that in the freezer, too.
  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
  • Remove butter from freezer and grate with a cheese grater into flour mixture, then mix lightly with your hands to separate clumps. Once the butter is evenly distributed throughout the flour, add cold buttermilk, mixing with a spoon until a lump of dough that sticks together is formed. Finally, add sweet potatoes and mix gently until incorporated into the dough.
  • On a large cutting board (or a clean countertop), sprinkle 2–3 Tbsp flour and spread out evenly. Gather dough into a ball and roll in flour till lightly covered. With a rolling pin (or a clean, empty or unopened wine bottle), roll out dough in an oval until about 1/2 inches thick, sprinkling dough with more flour as necessary to prevent sticking (you will probably need a lot). Cut biscuits with a 2-inch round biscuit cutter (or the open side of a clean, empty tin can), and place biscuits on lined baking sheet.
  • When there is no more room to cut biscuits, gather up dough, press into a ball, and repeat above process. Shape the last biscuit from the final scraps.
  • Put baking sheet in oven and reduce temperature to 450 degrees. Bake 8 minutes in the center of the oven, then rotate pan 180 degrees and bake 4–6 minutes more, until golden brown.