My great grandma Elnora went to be with the Lord when I was just 13-years-old, but she loved sweet potato biscuits and passed on her love of these fluffy, soft delights to my Grandma Dot, Mom and me. 

Delicious eaten with a thin, crispy slice of country ham, or spread with apple butter, I like to serve them with honey or warm syrup and a side of bacon. There isn’t too much else I need in this world. Sweet potato biscuits always remind me of home, and for me, they are especially nostalgic during the holidays. 

During my culinary school internship, I once baked more than 100 sweet potato biscuits for a Christmas party biscuit bar.

My brother and his family recently visited us in Savannah to enjoy some holiday festivities. On Saturday morning, I made my sweet potato biscuits from scratch and to my delight, my 12-year-old niece Hanna said she was so excited because she had not had one since the last time I made them at Christmas. 

That made my heart smile—as I hope my nieces will always associate these unique biscuits with a visit to their Aunt Rebekah’s house. 

Since originally publishing my recipe and making these with Paula Deen on her YouTube Channel, I have since updated it to make them even easier. 

Start out with a half cup of buttermilk, and use more only if needed. I often find you don’t need all the buttermilk because the sweet potatoes lend plenty of moisture to the dough. Once all your ingredients are incorporated, your dough may be a bit sticky. Simply add a little flour to your hands and be sure to flour your work surface to pat them out. Use a spatula to transfer the biscuits to your cast iron skillet to make them easier to handle. 

Also, if you don’t have a biscuit cutter, you can use the rim of a small drinking glass to cut your biscuits. Just be sure to dip it in flour first!

Make these for Christmas morning or New Year’s Day Brunch for a real treat. To take them to the next level, you can serve them with a cinnamon-pecan honey butter. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and many blessings in the New Year.

 Rebekah Faulk Lingenfelser is a private chef, speaker, culinary TV personality, and author. Featured in Forbes, on ABC and Food Network, she is a Georgia Southern University alumna and an honors graduate of the Savannah Culinary Institute. Visit RebekahLingenfelser.com, like Some Kinda Good on Facebook or follow @SKGFoodBlog on Instagram and YouTube.

Sweet Potato Biscuits  

(Makes approximately (9) 2 ½ inch biscuits)

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups self-rising flour

• 1 stick unsalted butter, cubed, plus 2 tablespoons\

• ½ to 1 cup buttermilk, if needed 

• 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes (about 2 medium sweet potatoes)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. While the oven pre-heats, set a cast iron skillet inside the oven to get warm. In a small bowl, whisk together the sweet potatoes and ½ cup of buttermilk. In another bowl, combine the flour and butter, using a pastry blender or fork, until the flour mixture resembles crumbs. Add the sweet potato mixture just until combined, adding more milk if needed to moisten the dough.

On a floured work surface, turn the dough out and knead lightly until the mixture comes together. Pat the dough into a half inch thick round. 

Using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, cut the dough into biscuits, gently re-rolling the scraps to cut out more biscuits. Carefully remove your cast iron skillet from the hot oven, and melt one tablespoon of butter in it. Place biscuits touching in the cast iron skillet. Melt one tablespoon of butter in a small dish or measuring cup. Drizzle or brush the butter over the tops of each biscuit. 

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until lightly golden brown. Serve with apple butter, softened butter, warm syrup or honey.