Sweet Potato Biscuits
Fluffy, tender, light and naturally sweet Southern-style vegan sweet potato biscuits are the perfect addition to your holiday table! With just a handful of pantry basics, this easy sweet potato biscuits recipe comes together in 30 minutes and for under $.50!
Fluffy, Tender Southern Vegan Sweet Potato Biscuits
In the last few years, the vegan market has exploded and has helped make stressful family holidays a little less stressful for those of us who live meat-free lifestyles. While we can’t deny there are still many families who can’t imagine a Thanksgiving/Christmas table without their meaty dishes, it’s becoming easier to also fill the table with plant-based dishes that the entire family will love. For example, mashed potatoes, green beans, Brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and these delicious vegan sweet potato biscuits!
This Southern-style sweet potato biscuit recipe requires just a handful of ingredients (pretty much all of which are pantry basics). Plus, because you likely have most (if not all) of the ingredients lying around, this recipe is INCREDIBLY frugal to prepare (at around $.50!). Better yet, these light, fluffy, and tender sweet potato biscuits may be low-budget, but they taste delicious too. Especially warm and slathered in plant-based butter alongside gravy and all your holiday fixin’s.
We love to serve them up alongside regular dinner rolls for an interesting alternative for guests to choose from. You can even prepare these old-fashioned sweet potato biscuits on the savory or sweeter side, depending on how you plan to serve them (and store any leftovers in the freezer!). So, keep reading for all our tips, tricks, and optional add-ins!
The Ingredients
Please note, this recipe was loosely adapted from the Paula Deen sweet potato biscuits recipe.
- Sweet potato: You need one cup of well-mashed/pureed sweet potato (about 1 medium potato). A purple sweet potato would also work. You can make it yourself or use canned sweet potato – either will work well.
- Plant-based milk: Use the milk of your choice; coconut, almond, soy, etc.
- Flour: You can use regular All-Purpose flour or whole wheat flour (though if you want to use the latter, we recommend experimenting with a 50/50 combination of AP and whole-wheat). You may also be able to use spelt flour interchangeably, though we haven’t tried.
- Baking powder: This will help leaven the sweet potato biscuits and provide lift and texture.
- Vegan butter: Use chilled (!!), dairy-free unsalted butter, or coconut oil.
- Salt
Other Simple Add-Ins & Recipe Variations
- Sugar: A little sugar can help to enhance the natural sweetness in the sweet potatoes and is an optional add-in many love. We recommend adding 1-2 tablespoons. You could also use maple syrup – but you may need to reduce the vegan milk by a spoonful or so to make up for the extra moisture.
- Other squash: You can actually make these holiday biscuits minus the sweet potato entirely! Instead, use pumpkin puree or butternut squash puree in its place – just note that moisture levels will vary, so you may need to adjust the flour amount slightly.
- Herbs: Add flavor in a super simple way with the addition of fresh or dried herbs. Rosemary, thyme, sage, and chives work well with sweet potato (or the other squash listed above). If you're wondering how to make your hebs last longer, check out this guide on How to Properly Store Herbs.
- Vegan Cheese: You can add some of your favorite melty dairy-free mozzarella/cheddar-style cheese directly into the dough or sprinkle it over the vegan sweet potato biscuits for a savory twist (that still tastes delicious with sweet toppings!).
- Shiny glaze: If you want the tops of the old-fashioned sweet potato biscuits to be a little shiny, you can brush them with a bit of additional melted veganbutter/oil or even maple syrup.
- Apple cider vinegar: Adding a teaspoon of ACV to the vegan milk (and reducing the milk by that amount) will help create a dairy-free ‘buttermilk’ and can help to yield even fluffier sweet potato biscuits.
How to Make Vegan Sweet Potato Biscuits?
Keep scrolling to the recipe card for the complete list of ingredients and recipe instructions.
- First, preheat the oven to 400F/205C. Then whisk the sweet potato and plant-based milk until well combined – set aside.
- Next, in a medium bowl, sift in the salt, flour, and baking powder. Cut the cold vegan butter (or coconut oil) into the flour mixture, mixing until a grainy meal texture has formed (with small pea-sized bits of butter – it shouldn’t be smoothly mixed).
To ‘cut’ the vegan butter/oil, you can either use a pastry cutter OR simply use two knives/ a fork.
- Then, fold the dry ingredients into the sweet potato mixture and knead into a dough (until just combined – don’t over-knead, or you’ll overwork the gluten!).
Depending on how moist the potato puree was, you may need a little more plant-based milk or flour – so adjust accordingly at this point. The dough is fairly wet in general but shouldn’t be overly sticky.
- Use an ice-cream scooper to portion the drop biscuit dough onto a greased baking sheet (or line the sheet with parchment paper or a reusable silicone mat), pressing the top of each down slightly to ‘flatten’ the top (to around 1-inch high and 1-inch of space between each one).
- Bake the vegan sweet potato biscuits in the oven for around 20 minutes, until lightly golden and ‘crisp’ on top. Then remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before enjoying!
How to Store?
Store any leftover sweet potato scones/biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature (i.e. ‘on the counter’) for 2-3 days or in the fridge for 4-5 days.
To freeze any leftover vegan biscuits, first, allow them to cool entirely. Then freeze on a baking tray (separated), so they don’t stick. Once frozen, transfer to an airtight container/Ziplock bag/Stasher bag and store for up to 3 months. You can then either reheat the biscuits from frozen or allow them to thaw overnight in the fridge first.
To reheat the vegan sweet potato biscuits, you have several options. First, to reheat them in the oven – just place them back in at 350F/175C for 5-8 minutes (or closer to 12-16 from frozen) until warmed through. Alternatively, reheat in a microwave for 20-40 seconds OR even slice and reheat in a toaster oven.
How to Serve Old-Fashioned Sweet Potato Biscuits?
You can enjoy an old-fashioned sweet potato biscuit warm (even directly from the oven), at room temperature, or even chilled.
- Serve with your favorite gravy - like regular gravy or mushroom gravy.
- As part of a Thanksgiving/Christmas table – alongside or instead of dinner rolls.
- Alongside soups, stews, and other ‘saucy’ dishes like chili, etc.
- Serve as sweet potato scones with sweet or savory toppings (vegan butter/maple butter/jam/jelly, vegan cream cheese, etc.)
- Replace a bagel/toast to top these delicious sweet potato biscuits with your favorite toppings (like tofu scramble, avocado mash, etc.)
- Use in stuffing recipes in place of other bread.
You can also use leftovers to make homemade sweet potato bread croutons. To do so, chop the slightly stale biscuits into cubes. Then toss with a bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt, then bake in the oven at 350F/175C until crispy and slightly browned (8-15 minutes, flipping once halfway).
FAQs
- Can I use a food processor/mixer? Absolutely, just be careful not to over-mix the dough, or you’ll risk overworking the gluten. You can even ‘cut’ the vegan butter/oil into the flour in your food processor.
- Can you freeze the sweet potato dough? Yes, you can freeze the prepared sweet potato biscuit dough wrapped tightly in plastic wrap in a ball OR pre-cut into biscuits. Store for up to three months, then thaw in the fridge overnight (or bake the cut biscuits from frozen – adding 5-8 minutes to the baking time).
- Why are my biscuits hard? This can happen if you’ve overworked the dough OR if your oven temperature was too low.
- Why are my biscuits dense? First, if you haven’t used chilled fat (vegan butter/oil), this can lead to dense sweet potato biscuits. Likewise, if you handle the dough too much and cause the fat to melt. The other main reason is, like the above, if you’ve overworked the dough (thus overdeveloped the gluten).
- What causes sweet potato biscuits to rise? There are a couple of main things. The first is the use of a leavening agent (in this case, baking powder). Additionally, the vegan butter in the dough will steam when added to the hot oven – which will cause pockets of air to form and yield puffed-up, light, fluffy vegan sweet potato biscuits.
- How to make sweet potato puree? You can either bake the potato in the oven (usually between 40-50 minutes at 350F- prodded a few times with a fork and wrapped in foil) or in a microwave (prodded and wrapped in a damp kitchen towel for 4-7 minutes). OR you can peel, chop, and steam or boil the potatoes until fork-tender. However, be aware, the latter will lead to a more watery puree.
Top Recipe Tips and Notes
- Using All-Purpose vs. Whole Wheat flour: The first will be soft without being too soft. The latter has a bit more body and will be slightly denser (when using a 50/50 blend). You can also try with 100% whole wheat, but the sweet potato biscuits will be much denser, and the flavor of the flour can slightly overwhelm the delicate sweet potato flavor.
- Don’t overwork the dough: Or else you run the risk of overworking the gluten and ending up with dense/chewy bakes. You can also melt the vegan butter before it gets to the oven – which is a no-no!
- Adjust the liquid/flour ratio as needed: When using veggie purees, the moisture level can vary, so you may need to add a little extra vegan milk or flour to achieve the correct dough consistency.
- Use chilled ingredients: The plant-based butter/oil shouldn’t be room temp/warm. Even chilling the flour in advance (20-30 mins in the freezer) can help for the best results.
- Ensure your baking powder is fresh: Otherwise, you’ll end up with dense, flat sweet potato biscuits. Check the best by expiration date and/or even test a little in a glass of hot water. It should bubble vigorously (immediately).
- For perfectly even biscuits: Use a sharp biscuit cutter on flattened dough. When pressing into the dough, make sure to move up and down and not twist (as it can ‘seal’ the sides and impact the rise) the cookie cutter. Dip the cutter in flour to avoid it sticking.
More Vegan Sweet Potato Recipes
- Sweet potato quinoa bowl
- Sweet potato lasagna
- Chickpea stuffed sweet potato boats
- Sweet potato latkes
- Quinoa and sweet potato chili
- Delicata squash and sweet potato soup
- OR even sweet potato brownies
Photos by Alfonso Revilla
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 cup pureed or mashed sweet potato (about 1 medium potato)
- ¼ cup plant-based milk
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour
- 1 Tablespoon of baking powder
- 4 Tablespoons of chilled vegan butter or coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Whisk together the pureed sweet potato with the milk until smooth. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together salt, flour, and baking powder.
- Cut cold vegan butter into the flour mix, mixing until a grainy meal is formed.
- Fold flour into the mashed sweet potatoes and knead it into a dough (but do not over-knead). Scoop ice-cream-sized dollops onto a greased baking sheet, pressing the top of each biscuit down slightly.
- Bake for 20 minutes and then remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Notes
- Sugar: A little sugar can help to enhance the natural sweetness in the sweet potatoes and is an optional add-in many love. We recommend adding 1-2 tablespoons. You could also use maple syrup – but you may need to reduce the vegan milk by a spoonful or so to make up for the extra moisture.
- Other squash: You can actually make these holiday biscuits minus the sweet potato entirely! Instead, use pumpkin puree or butternut squash puree in its place – just note that moisture levels will vary, so you may need to adjust the flour amount slightly.
- Herbs: Add flavor in a super simple way with the addition of fresh or dried herbs. Rosemary, thyme, sage, and chives work well with sweet potato (or the other squash listed above). If you’re wondering how to make your hebs last longer, check out this guide on How to Properly Store Herbs.
- Vegan Cheese: You can add some of your favorite melty dairy-free mozzarella/cheddar-style cheese directly into the dough or sprinkle it over the vegan sweet potato biscuits for a savory twist (that still tastes delicious with sweet toppings!).
- Shiny glaze: If you want the tops of the old-fashioned sweet potato biscuits to be a little shiny, you can brush them with a bit of additional melted veganbutter/oil or even maple syrup.
- Apple cider vinegar: Adding a teaspoon of ACV to the vegan milk (and reducing the milk by that amount) will help create a dairy-free ‘buttermilk’ and can help to yield even fluffier sweet potato biscuits.
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Welcome to Plant-Based on a Budget! Here you’ll find affordable and easy-to-make recipes, and an inclusive, supportive approach to plant-based eating.
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