Best Sweet Potato Pancakes

Whether you are looking for a way to use up that lone sweet potato or need a good excuse to make a fall-flavored breakfast, these Sweet Potato Pancakes are perfect on any morning.

We all have our favorite ways to enjoy sweet potatoes, whether it’s as a Thanksgiving side dish or cubed and roasted with a weeknight meal, but have you ever tried them in pancakes?

If not, today is your lucky day because we are making the fluffiest, buttery-soft sweet potato pancakes you’ll ever taste!

The Most Amazing Sweet Potato Pancakes

These pancakes are slightly sweet, extra fluffy, and hearty, all in one bite! Top them with Homemade Brown Sugar Syrup, and you’ll have one incredible pancake experience.  

While these are delicious for any time of year, they certainly fit the mood for fall, when sweet potatoes are in season and the holidays are in full swing. I usually make these when I have an extra cup of mashed sweet potato leftover from a sweet potato souffle or an extra whole roasted potato. Cooked sweet potato adds sweetness and moisture to the batter without weighing it down, so it cooks into tall and fluffy stacks of pancakes.  

Sweet Potato Pancake Ingredients

This recipe is basically my Original Fluffy Pancakes Recipe with the addition of brown sugar, cinnamon, and mashed sweet potato. Those three flavors sum up everything I love about fall and put it in a pancake; what’s not love? 

Here’s everything you need to make these buttery-soft sweet potato pancakes happen: 

• All-purpose flour: could also be made with a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour.
• Brown sugar: adds just enough sweetness.
• Baking powder: the secret to fluffy pancakes! Make sure your baking powder is fresh.
• Salt: brings out the pumpkin and brown sugar.
• Cinnamon: adds the flavor of fall, you could also try this with pumpkin pie spice.
• Milk: or your choice of non-dairy alternative.
• Mashed sweet potato: check out how to cook a sweet potato quickly, so it’s easy to mash and use in this recipe.
• Egg: binds the ingredients and helps the pancakes hold together as they cook.
• Melted butter: enhances flavor and texture.

*The recipe card at the end of this post will have the full ingredient measurements and thorough cooking directions.

How to Cook Sweet Potatoes

You’ll want the sweet potato to be soft to the touch and easy to mash with the back of a fork. I’ve found that baking a whole sweet potato in the oven until tender gives it a perfect, soft texture and adds a golden, caramelized flavor.

However, if you’re in a pinch, cook the sweet potato in the microwave, I’ve done this myself, and the pancakes still turn out delicious. Be sure to watch the video below on how to bake the perfect sweet potato in an oven, microwave, or slow cooker. I’ll let you decide which method to use.

How to Make Sweet Potato Pancakes

I tried something new for this pancake recipe and mixed the wet ingredients in a blender. It helped smooth out any lumps from the sweet potato and made it easier to pour the mixture into the dry ingredients. If you don’t have a blender, no big deal. A regular mixing bowl and whisk will do just fine.

1. Prepare the Wet Ingredients
   In a large bowl or blender, combine the milk, mashed sweet potato, egg, and melted butter. Mix or blend until there are few to no lumps left. 
2. Combine
   Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together until just combined. 
3. Cook
   Grease and heat a pancake griddle over medium heat. Pour the batter in ¼ cupfuls onto the griddle. Cook until bubbles form, then flip. 
4. Repeat
   Remove the golden brown pancakes from the griddle and repeat as necessary. 
5. Eat Them While They’re Hot!
   Grab a plate, stack the pancakes high, drizzle with your choice of syrup and enjoy! 

Making Them Fluffy

There are a few tricks to making fluffy, soft pancakes, and it’s all in the batter! I have in entire post and video on what the perfect pancake batter should look like, but for a quick summary, here are two important tips you should know: 

Use Fresh Baking Powder
Baking powder gives pancakes and baked goods their rise. Make sure you’re baking powder is fresh too. Once expired it loses the ability to react, resulting in flat pancakes. 

Don’t Over Mix
Pancake batter should have tiny lumps, you don’t want it completely smooth. To avoid overmixing, once you’ve added the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stir everything together, starting in the middle, then work your way to the sides of the bowl. 

What is the Texture of Sweet Potato Pancakes?

Sweet Potato Pancakes are fluffier and less dense than a recipe like Pumpkin Spice Pancakes. Mashed sweet potato adds moisture as well as volume to the batter, so the pancakes are fluffy and soft without sinking into flat, thin discs.

More Fall Pancakes

To go along with this recipe, I’ve also included some of my favorite fall-inspired pancake ideas. Of course, you can enjoy them any time of year, I certainly do, but they taste better when the weather gets cold and you crave those flavors of cinnamon, brown sugar, and pumpkin spice. 

• Pumpkin Pancakes
• Whole Wheat Pancakes
• Cinnamon Roll Pancakes with Cream Cheese Icing
• Blender Oatmeal Banana Pancakes