Gluten Free Sweet Potato Biscuits

Recipe Ingredient Notes

Gluten Free Flour: The best gluten-free flour blend to use in this recipe for Gluten Free Sweet Potato Biscuits is Cup4Cup. The addition of cornstarch creates a lighter crumb and therefore allows the biscuits to rise. Cup4Cup makes biscuits that are fluffy and light, but with a good structure. This way one can easily split them in half without the biscuits falling apart.

If you are in Europe, please use Schär Mix Pâtisserie. If you do not have access to Cup4Cup, please use the following mixture for Homemade Biscuit Flour. I can not guarantee it will be as nice and flaky as Cup4Cup. Try to avoid a blend with brown rice flour as its first ingredient. It will be too heavy for biscuits.

Homemade Biscuit Flour Blend
- 250 g of your gluten-free flour blend containing xanthan gum (such as Bob's Red Mill or Better Batter. I do not recommend King Arthur for this recipe)
- 75 g of cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon of dry non-fat milk powder (whole milk powder works as well)

Combine all ingredients and mix together with a whisk. The non-fat milk powder will provide browning but is also an emulsifier.

Sweet Potatoes: Mashed Sweet Potatoes add not only flavor as well as a subtle sweetness to these gluten-free biscuits but also body. Look for Red Garnets or Jewels at the grocery store since they cook up sweet and moist. They have orange or red skin and deep orange flesh. Oddly enough they are often labeled as Yams in grocery stores which is incorrect. True Yams are actually hard to find at common American grocery stores. Try to avoid Sweet Hannah, Japanese, or Purple Sweet Potatoes since they bake up dry and starchy.

Butter: I only use unsalted butter in my baking recipes. Make sure the butter is cold and comes straight from the fridge. This will help the biscuits to get flaky layers.

Dairy: I have tested this recipe with "homemade buttermilk" (which is basically milk with apple cider vinegar or lemon juice) and buttermilk. The sweet potato biscuits made with buttermilk did rise a lot taller and had a better flavor.

How to make Gluten Free Sweet Potato Biscuits

The only tools needed to make the best gluten-free sweet potato biscuits are your clean hands. A rolling pin will be too heavy and destroy the beautiful layers of your dough.

If you like you can cut or grate the butter ahead of time and stick it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. As for the sweet potato puree, I like to just steam one in the microwave. I poke it a few times with a fork and then use the Potato Setting on my Microwave (1 or 2 depending on its size). You can also steam sweet potatoes in an instant pot or roast them in the oven. But the microwave way will be the quickest.

Step 1: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.

Step 2: In a small bowl combine the sweet potato puree and the buttermilk. With a fork or a potato masher, combine the two ingredients until smooth. Set aside.

Step 3: In a large bowl sift together the gluten-free flour, light brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Sifting together the dry ingredients ensures there are no random "pockets" of baking powder in your gluten-free biscuits.

Step 4: Cut the cold butter into small chunks and with your hands or a pastry cutter, work it into the dry ingredients until they resemble the size of peas.

Step 5: Add the sweet potato buttermilk puree mixture and with a flexible spatula stir everything together until the flour mixture has been completely absorbed. The mixture will look very dry in the beginning but the more you mix it, it will start to look like dough. Should the mixture not come together, you may use your clean hands to mix the dough. To be honest, it's kinda easier than using a spatula.

Step 5: Transfer the gluten-free sweet potato biscuit dough to a prepared baking sheet tray and with your hands, push it together in a rectangular/square shape - you want this around ¾ - 1" thick.

Step 6: Fold the dough in half and carefully pat it down into a square. Rotate the dough 90° between each fold. Repeat this two more times – a total of THREE folds. If your dough has become sticky because of a warm kitchen or warm hands, feel free to place it in the fridge between folds for 5-10 minutes. These folds are the key to flaky biscuits with buttery layers.

Step 7: Pat down the biscuit dough in a rectangular around ¾" - 1" thick and around 7x5 in size. Do not go thinner than ¾" or you will end up with flat, sad biscuits. Place the uncut biscuit dough in your fridge for at least 10 minutes. This gives the butter in the dough to chill down again and will ensure light and flaky gluten-free sweet potato biscuits. Chilling the dough also makes them easier to cut. In the meantime fully preheat your oven to 400F.

Step 8: Once your oven is fully preheated, use a sharp, clean knife and cut the biscuits into 6 equal pieces. Arrange the cut biscuits on a parchment-lined sheet tray and brush with some additional buttermilk.

Step 8: Bake at 400F for 24-26 minutes or until golden brown. Baking time depends on how thick you have rolled the dough. If your dough is thinner than ¾" inch please reduce the baking time to 21-23 minutes or until golden brown.

Step 9: While the biscuits are baking, melt the additional butter in a small sauce pan. Add the honey (or maple syrup) and whisk together. If you like some spice add a pinch of cinnamon or smoked paprika to the melted butter (or something with more spice if that's your thing)

Step 10: Once the sweet potato biscuits are ready, remove them from the oven and brush them with a generous amount of honey butter. Sprinkle with some flaky sea salt if you like. 

Allow the biscuits to rest on a wire rack for 5 minutes before trying the best gluten-free cheddar biscuits there are.

How to freeze Biscuits

This is my favorite way to have “gluten-free biscuits on demand”. Arrange the unbaked, CUT biscuits on a sheet tray and freeze for 2hrs. Transfer them to a ziplock bag and bake from frozen as needed. You may need to increase the baking time by a few minutes.

You may also freeze baked gluten-free sweet potato biscuits for future use. I recommend wrapping each individual in plastic wrap and sticking them in a ziplock bag or Tupperware container and freezing them that way. When you are ready to enjoy a biscuit allow for it to thaw at room temperature and rebake in the oven or toaster oven at 350F for 5-7 minutes.

FAQ about Gluten Free Sweet Potato Biscuits

Note about Salt in my Recipes

I use Diamond Kosher Crystal Salt in all of my recipes unless otherwise stated. If use use a different brand or kind of salt in your kitchen please adjust accordingly since some salts can be saltier. If you use Morton’s Kosher Salt please be aware that their salt granules are smaller in size, denser, and crunchier and twice as salty.

Baking in grams

I share my recipes in grams and by weight since baking by weight is the most accurate way to bake. Digital Scales are very affordable and easy to use. You can purchase them on Amazon for less than a set of measuring cups. For small amounts under 10 grams, I like to use this Precision Pocket Scale. Measuring cups are very inaccurate which can cause significant errors when it comes to gluten-free baking or baking in general. Especially since I bake with gluten-free flours which weigh differently than “regular” flours. I do provide some ingredients like spices and leavening agents in measuring spoons. To learn more about Baking with a digital scale, make sure to check out my post about Baking by weight.

Note about Ovens and Oven Temperatures

All my recipes are tested and developed with a conventional oven. I always bake my baked goods on the rack placed in the MIDDLE of my oven. This way the heat coming from the bottom will not burn my baked goods.

If you are baking with convection (fan-forced), please adjust the recipes accordingly. Convection oven can cause baked goods to dry out quickly and still be raw inside. Since takes at least 15-20 minutes for a standard American Oven to be fully preheated. I highly recommend investing in an Oven Thermometer.

Substitutions and Modifications

Any dietary or ingredient modifications/substitutions to this recipe may alter the end result in appearance and taste. I test my recipes several times as published in this post and The Gluten Free Austrian Blog is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe you find on our website.