When you consider southern cooking you think soul food, food like grandma used to make. Southern favorites include fried chicken, okra, cat-head biscuits, country ham, creamed style corn, collard greens, pintos and cornbread. These easy, yummy sweet potato dumplings will be added to the list as well once you try them. People who don’t even like sweet potatoes will change their mind after eating sweet potato dumplings.
There’s baked sweet potatoes, sweet potato casserole, sweet potato soufflé, sweet potato sonker, sweet potato pie, sweet potato fries, and sweet potato cake. Get ready for sweet potato dumplings, because they absolutely rock.
Sweet potato dumplings are made with sweet potatoes (canned or fresh), biscuit dough (homemade or canned), water, butter, sugar and cinnamon. For convenience, this recipe will utilize canned biscuits and canned sweet potatoes; however, you’re welcome to use your homemade biscuit dough for extra down-home flare.
Sweet Potato Dumplings
1 small can sweet potatoes
1 can (8 count) Pillsbury Southern-Style Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups water
1 ½ sticks butter
2 cups sugar (white, brown or some of both)
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
While you are preparing the dumplings, combine the water, sugar, butter and cinnamon in a medium sized pot and place on the stove over low heat. Stir occasionally to melt the butter and dissolve the sugar.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cover your work area with a pastry mat or wax paper. Open the canned biscuits and cut each biscuit in half, then once again to create 4 pieces and separate on the wax paper. Drain sweet potatoes and cut into small pieces.
Using your hand or a pastry roller, flatten each piece of biscuit dough (keeping the shape of a triangle works well), place a small piece of sweet potato in the center, fold the dough over and seal with a fork. Place the dumplings in a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish. Continue with the rest of the biscuit dough. It is unlikely that all the sweet potatoes will be used.
When you have finished making the dumplings, pour the syrup liquid over them and place the baking dish in the oven. Bake sweet potato dumplings for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve warm, with ice cream, as a dessert or side dish to any meal.
For extra flavor, you may wish to add the juice drained from the sweet potatoes to the syrup mixture. Creative cooks will also try this recipe with other fillings.
