When we first moved to France, you couldn’t buy a sweet potato for nothing. The French call them patates douces. But a couple of decades have passed since then, and now most grocery stores will have a few tucked away somewhere.
- 2 cups flour (I used part whole wheat)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, or cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- ½ cup cooked, mashed sweet potato, (1 medium sweet potato), chilled if you have time
- 3/4 cups whole milk
- Heavy cream or egg wash for topping
Preheat the oven to 425°F (210C)
In a food processor, add dry ingredients and pulse about 8 times. Add the butter and distribute dollops of the sweet potatoes around the top. Pulse until you have a coarse meal, 8 to 10 one second pulses. Small lumps of butter are okay.
Turn out into a bowl, make a well in the center of the mixture, and add the milk all at once. Mix together with a fork just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix or knead—you are not looking for a cohesive, smooth dough.
Dump the dough out onto a well floured work surface and use your (floured) hands to pat it roughly into a rectangle about an inch thick (it's a bit stickier than regular biscuit dough). Dip a knife in flour and cut into squares. Use a floury spatula to lift biscuits onto a baking sheet. Put them close together, not quite touching.
Brush the tops with heavy cream or an egg wash (an egg beaten with a splash of water). Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar and a bit of cinnamon or pie spice. Plain white or brown cane sugar will work too). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Serve with butter, or with honey butter or maple butter if you want to get fancy.
If this recipe gets you on a biscuit binge, try these peach pie biscuits.
In the COMMENTS: Thanks for checking out Aryn's moulin project, so many of you were interested, and we are quite fascinated by it as well! We look forward to seeing her progress, and sharing it with you. It was fun to hear from those of you who have made the leap to France, as well as those who long to. And Paula, we know all about the pull of those grandkids (but ,sigh, we also know kids can move away unexpectedly, so following them can be tricky!).
Favorite READS: If you haven't done so already, please take a detour and congratulate Kristi Espinasse on 20 years of blogging at French-Word-A-Day. She has been a great inspiration to me, and I'm sure to many of you too. And since many of you are avid readers, I think you will love reading Book Lovers, a very funny novel by Emily Henry, which has me staying up late these days since I can't put it down.
21 thoughts on ““Les Patates Douces” Go South”
Hi, Lynn.
This is similar to Thomas Jefferson’s recipe for Sweet Potato biscuits which I discovered at Colonial Tavern in Philadelphia and in one of their cookbooks. I have been making them for Thanksgiving for years!
Best regards.
Tom Berry
Hi, Lynn.
This is similar to Thomas Jefferson’s recipe for Sweet Potato biscuits which I discovered at Colonial Tavern in Philadelphia and in one of their cookbooks. I have been making them for Thanksgiving for years!
Best regards.
Tom Berry
Hi, Lynn.
This is similar to Thomas Jefferson’s recipe for Sweet Potato biscuits which I discovered at Colonial Tavern in Philadelphia and in one of their cookbooks. I have been making them for Thanksgiving for years!
Best regards.
Tom Berry
Replace the milk with buttermilk and they are divine!
Replace the milk with buttermilk and they are divine!
Replace the milk with buttermilk and they are divine!
Lynn,I am sitting here drooling!Sweet potatoes are a favorite in our house anyway,but my most often way to prepare them is baked with maple syrup filling.Ooey.gooey,potentially messy and wonderful!
I had not imagined them transformed into such over the moon biscuits,and yes indeedy,count me in as officially on a biscuit binge!!!WOW!!!!
THANK YOU!!!
And thank you,too, for such a lovely shout out to Kristin Espinesse of French Word A Day. A gifted and lovely woman, through her blog(of which I’ve been enjoying for 17 years)she told us of Southern Fried French,and all of your talents–now flash forward to happily ever after ,we’ve become your appreciate and fortunate readers!
Lynn,I am sitting here drooling!Sweet potatoes are a favorite in our house anyway,but my most often way to prepare them is baked with maple syrup filling.Ooey.gooey,potentially messy and wonderful!
I had not imagined them transformed into such over the moon biscuits,and yes indeedy,count me in as officially on a biscuit binge!!!WOW!!!!
THANK YOU!!!
And thank you,too, for such a lovely shout out to Kristin Espinesse of French Word A Day. A gifted and lovely woman, through her blog(of which I’ve been enjoying for 17 years)she told us of Southern Fried French,and all of your talents–now flash forward to happily ever after ,we’ve become your appreciate and fortunate readers!
Lynn,I am sitting here drooling!Sweet potatoes are a favorite in our house anyway,but my most often way to prepare them is baked with maple syrup filling.Ooey.gooey,potentially messy and wonderful!
I had not imagined them transformed into such over the moon biscuits,and yes indeedy,count me in as officially on a biscuit binge!!!WOW!!!!
THANK YOU!!!
And thank you,too, for such a lovely shout out to Kristin Espinesse of French Word A Day. A gifted and lovely woman, through her blog(of which I’ve been enjoying for 17 years)she told us of Southern Fried French,and all of your talents–now flash forward to happily ever after ,we’ve become your appreciate and fortunate readers!
I’ve been living in the south of France since 2009, and I see a lot of sweet potatoes in the markets, both the real ones and yams. They are easy to find here, don’t know where they are coming from. The French do somewhat strange things to them, as you mentioned.
bonnie in provence
I’ve been living in the south of France since 2009, and I see a lot of sweet potatoes in the markets, both the real ones and yams. They are easy to find here, don’t know where they are coming from. The French do somewhat strange things to them, as you mentioned.
bonnie in provence
I’ve been living in the south of France since 2009, and I see a lot of sweet potatoes in the markets, both the real ones and yams. They are easy to find here, don’t know where they are coming from. The French do somewhat strange things to them, as you mentioned.
bonnie in provence
Great biscuit recipe. Stores even carry sweet potatoes here in the middle of nowhere!! Nice addition to the French kitchen.Wishing you beautiful fall days.
Great biscuit recipe. Stores even carry sweet potatoes here in the middle of nowhere!! Nice addition to the French kitchen.Wishing you beautiful fall days.
Great biscuit recipe. Stores even carry sweet potatoes here in the middle of nowhere!! Nice addition to the French kitchen.Wishing you beautiful fall days.
Hi- sweet potatoes or yams? or does it matter?
Hi- sweet potatoes or yams? or does it matter?
Hi- sweet potatoes or yams? or does it matter?
I love sweet potatoes Lynn. This looks like a wonderful recipe and I have all the ingredients. Thank you for sharing this delectable delight!
I love sweet potatoes Lynn. This looks like a wonderful recipe and I have all the ingredients. Thank you for sharing this delectable delight!
I love sweet potatoes Lynn. This looks like a wonderful recipe and I have all the ingredients. Thank you for sharing this delectable delight!