There is a particular kind of fall evening that calls for biscuits in a skillet: the oven already on, something savory on the stove, and a basket on the table that empties faster than planned. These sweet potato biscuits are that basket. They bake up soft and golden, faintly sweet, and just sturdy enough to split open for butter.

Why this one works

The sweet potato does two jobs at once. It keeps the crumb tender and moist, and it gives the biscuits their color and gentle sweetness without making them a dessert. Self-rising flour does the rest of the quiet work: it already contains leavening and salt, so there is no baking powder to measure and no risk of a flat, dense batch from a mis-measured spoon. Keep everything cold, handle the dough as little as possible, and let a hot oven do the rising.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Soft, golden sweet potato biscuits baked close together in a cast-iron skillet, with maple butter for splitting them open while they are still warm.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Servings: 12 servings

Course: Baking/Dessert

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

Biscuits

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional, for warmth
• 1/2 cup cold salted butter, cubed
• 1 cup cold mashed cooked sweet potato
• 3/4 cup cold buttermilk, plus more as needed

Maple butter

• 4 tablespoons salted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 pinch salt

Method

 

1. Heat the oven: Heat the oven to 425°F and butter a 10-inch cast-iron skillet.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients: Whisk the flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3. Cut in the butter: Cut in the cold butter with a pastry blender or two forks until pea-sized pieces remain.
4. Stir in the wet ingredients: Stir the mashed sweet potato and buttermilk together, then stir into the flour mixture just until the dough holds together, adding a splash more buttermilk only if it will not come together.
5. Pat and cut: Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, pat to 1 inch thick, and cut with a floured 2-1/2-inch cutter, pressing straight down without twisting.
6. Bake: Set the biscuits touching in the skillet and bake 15 to 20 minutes, until tall and golden.
7. Make the maple butter: Beat the softened butter, maple syrup, and salt until creamy, and serve with the warm biscuits.

Variations

Leave the cinnamon out if you want a plainer biscuit for sausage gravy or a breakfast sandwich — the sweet potato still carries the flavor. A spoonful of chopped pecans folded into the dough adds crunch without changing the bake. And if maple butter is not your thing, plain salted butter or a drizzle of honey works just as well on a warm biscuit.

Serving and storage

Serve these warm, split open, with the maple butter. They are at their best the day they are baked; leftovers keep in an airtight container for two days and come back nicely with a few minutes in a warm oven. The dough itself does not wait well once mixed, so bake the batch when you mix it.

Sweet potato biscuits sit happily next to the rest of a fall table — try them with Sheet Pan Sausage with Apples and Sweet Potatoes, or alongside a mug of Mulled Apple Cider Over a Fire Pit when the evening turns cool.