Sweet Potato Bread
This sweet potato bread is so incredibly moist and comforting. It’s basically a hug in loaf cake form. Made with tons of warm spices, fresh baked sweet potato, and a toasted marshmallow meringue frosting, this bread has so much flavor with the most delicious textures. It’s the perfect treat to bake this fall!
Sweet Potato Bread Ingredients
Sweet potato bread isn’t too different from pumpkin bread, but (in my opinion) it tastes way better.
It still has all those warm and cozy spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, but the texture is on a whole other level.
Sweet potato bread is made with sweet potatoes that have been baked to soft and tender perfection. The skins are removed and the rest is mashed and mixed into the bread.
Comparing it to pumpkin, sweet potato has a richer consistency and flavor. The subtle sweetness adds so much to this bread and the thick but moist texture creates an incredibly moist but sturdy loaf. It contains less water than pumpkin, so it’s also less volatile than pumpkin bread.
In other words, it’s very hard to mess up sweet potato bread! The sweet potato itself does so much of the heavy lifting as it’s the perfect ingredient to create a rich and moist loaf.
How to Prepare Sweet Potatoes for Sweet Potato Bread
To make mashed sweet potato for this sweet potato bread recipe, follow these simple steps:
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- Line a baking sheet with foil.
- Use a fork to punch a few holes into two medium sweet potatoes.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes or until caramelized filling leaks out of the holes and a fork can easily sink into the potatoes.
- Allow the potatoes to cool for about 15 minutes.
- Peel back the skins, mash the potato flesh, and measure to 1 1/2 cups.
- Cool before use!
Tips for Baking Sweet Potato Bread
Like I said, sweet potato bread is very hard to mess up. The sweet potato itself guarantees a rich and moist loaf. But to make sure yours turns out perfect, here are my top tips:
- Sweet Potato – Mash up the sweet potato as fine as possible. It’s okay if there are some pea-sized lumps, we just do not want big chunks of potato in the batter. Also be sure to measure to exactly 1 1/2 cups.
- Maple Syrup – With just two tablespoons, it can seem like an insignificant amount but do not skip it! This tiny bit of maple syrup not only adds delicious flavor, but it also enhances the rich and moist texture of this bread.
- Flour – I say this in every recipe and for good reason. Always spoon your flour into the measuring cup and level it off for light and fluffy cups of flour. Do not scoop directly into the flour as this will pack it down into the cup, leaving you with way too much added flour in the batter. Above all, use a kitchen scale to weigh the flour for even better accuracy.
- Mixing – The flour is the last ingredient to be mixed into the batter. When it’s added, whisk gently just until the batter is combined. Over mixing can lead to a sunken or tough bread.
- Testing – To test for doneness, stick a toothpick into the center of the loaf – there should be a big crack down the middle. If the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs stuck to the tip, it’s done.
Sweet Potato Bread FAQs
I haven’t tested it, but I don’t doubt that it could work with a cup for cup gluten free baking flour. Follow all of the same instructions but sub the flour with the same amount of gluten free baking flour.
For material, I always suggest a light-colored steel loaf pan as these conduct heat the best. For size, I’ve baked this loaf both in a 9×5 loaf pan and a 1 pound loaf pan and both turned out perfect. The size difference is subtle, but the slightly larger 9×5 pan will yield a loaf that’s more wide than tall. I’ve linked both options at the bottom of the recipe card.
The bread is just as delicious on its own! Feel free to skip the frosting to make this recipe even easier.
Unfortunately pumpkin has almost no sweetness and lots of added moisture so it’s not a one for one substitute with sweet potato. Instead, try my pumpkin bread recipe.
Store the loaf in the refrigerator where it will keep for about 5 days. If you skip the meringue, you can keep the loaf in an air tight container at room temperature and it will keep for about 3 days.
For more loaf cake recipes, check out my:
- Pumpkin Bread with Maple Glaze
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Apple Cinnamon Bread
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
- Lemon Blueberry Loaf
Make sure to tag me @butternutbakery on Instagram and leave a review below if you make this sweet potato bread. To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, the buttons above or below this post, or on any of the photos above. Happy baking!
Watch how to make this sweet potato bread:
Sweet Potato Bread
- Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 10 slices
Description
Think of the moist warm and cozy and inviting dessert and multiply it by ten. That’s this sweet potato bread! It’s so rich and filled with warm spices and fresh baked sweet potato. Topped with a toasted marshmallow meringue frosting, this loaf cake is sure to be your new favorite fall dessert.
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Bread
- 1 1/2 cups (360g) baked sweet potato*, mashed and cooled
- 1/2 cup (102g) olive oil
- 1 cup (205g) light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (60g) sour cream or Greek yogurt (full fat)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups (195g) all-purpose flour
Marshmallow Meringue
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Sweet Potato Bread
- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease and line a loaf pan with a sheet of parchment paper. This recipe works in both a 9×5 pan or a 1 pound loaf pan (I personally used a 1 pound).
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mashed sweet potato, olive oil, brown sugar, maple syrup, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla.
- The batter will likely have bits of sweet potato lumps throughout which is perfectly fine.
- Now whisk in the baking soda, spices, and salt.
- Once incorporated, whisk in the flour.
- Pour the batter into your loaf pan. For a 9×5 pan, bake for 50-60 minutes. For a 1 pound loaf pan, bake for 60-70 minutes.
- Allow the loaf to cool, then make the meringue.
Marshmallow Meringue
- In a large bowl using a hand or stand mixer with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites and cream of tartar.
- Whip on high speed until it turns opaque and frothy (about 2 minutes).
- Slowly pour in the sugar with the mixer still running. Whisk on high speed until you reach a thick marshmallowy consistency (about 5 minutes). Mix in the vanilla.
- Spread the meringue over the cooled loaf and use a kitchen torch to toast the top (optional).
- Enjoy!
Notes
BAKED SWEET POTATO – To make the mashed sweet potato, you will need about 2 medium sweet potatoes. Preheat the oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with foil. Use a fork to punch a few holes into the sweet potatoes. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a fork easy sinks into the potato. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then peel back the skins and mash. Make sure to measure to exactly 1 1/2 cups. Cool completely before using in this recipe.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cooling Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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Meet Jenna
I’m the creator, baker, and photographer behind Butternut Bakery. Here I share desserts for every diet because I believe everyone should have a chance to indulge!
Amazing recipe the cake turned out yummmmy
I made this for Thanksgiving with some leftover sweet potatoes in my garden and needless to say…. I’m making it again tonight. Thank you
Delicious and moist, great flavor! And very easy to make!
Great recipe! Too bad I didn’t find this recipe earlier because I had a bumper sweet potato crop in October. Nevertheless, I still had some sweet potatoes in the cellar and have baked this bread twice in the past week. I reduced sugar by half, substituted sunflower for olive oil, added extra tablespoon maple syrup, mixed in walnuts and hazelnuts. Delicious…
Delish! This was a hit with the whole fam. And the marshmallow topping was fun to make. Much easier than I imagined.
This recipe is delicious!! I had some old sweet potatoes that needed using and this recipe was perfect. Out of sheer lack of patience in baking time (lol) I went for more of a snacking cake instead of a loaf-style bread and baked it in an 8”x8” pan for 25 minutes at 350. It turned out fantastic!!! It was so simple (LOVED that I only had to dirty one bowl) and the spices were spot on. Thanks Jenna for another great recipe!!