Sweet potato bread is a moist, dense, perfectly sweet, and spiced quick bread that is perfect for autumn breakfasts or on a holiday table. This warmly spiced old-fashioned sweet potato bread recipe is actually delicious all year round as a delicious and nutritious snack!
I love cooking with sweet potatoes. They are this amazing root vegetable that is bright orange in color and just a little bit sweet, making them versatile in both sweet and savory recipes. Sweet potatoes are very similar to pumpkin, making them a great match for warm spices. Because they are sweeter and denser than pumpkin, sweet potatoes are the perfect choice for this bread recipe.
Today we’re making a sweet potato bread that is on the sweet side, although not overly sweet. Plus, we’re adding warm fall spices and chopped nuts to make it a nutritious, comforting treat.
I like to enjoy quick breads like this one, Banana Bread, or Zucchini Bread in the morning as a light and satisfying breakfast. A slice of this sweet potato bread would also be amazing in the afternoon with a cup of tea or coffee. My Thanksgiving and Christmas tables usually have some sort of sweet bread on the table too, and this sweet potato bread recipe certainly has a place there.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: The sweet potato is completely underrated as a baking ingredient – you’re going to love working with it. You can even use canned sweet potatoes to save time! The rest of the ingredients in this recipe are common baking ingredients that you probably already have in the cupboard.
- Great for Leftovers: Did you bake or boil some sweet potatoes for dinner last night that didn’t get eaten? Those will be perfect for baking with today.
- Dense, Moist Texture: You have to try it to get the full experience, but this is one of the most moist quickbreads I’ve made. It won’t crumble apart while you’re slicing it and it travels well in lunchboxes.
- Autumn Spices: I just love the warm spices we’re adding to this recipe. Cinnamon and nutmeg make everything taste like fall!
Key Ingredients in Sweet Potato Bread
- Mashed Sweet Potato: You can get this in a few different ways. The shortcut way would be to buy canned sweet potato or yams, drain them and mash them up with a fork. Avoid buying yams with syrup or sugars added though. Sweet potatoes can also be found in the frozen food section. Fresh orange sweet potatoes can also be boiled, baked, or steamed and then mashed. You need 1 cup of mashed sweet potatoes for this recipe.
- Spices: Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and a bit of salt give the perfect amount of warm spiciness that this sweet potato bread needs.
- Flour and Baking Soda: These are the dry goods in this bread recipe. I’ve tested this bread with regular all purpose flour. Wheat flour can be used, but the bread will be even more dense. Sift the flour with the baking soda for best results, this will help you avoid any pockets of bitterness in your bread.
- Eggs and Oil: Two large eggs bind all of the ingredients together and the oil keeps the bread dense and delicious. Any type of light flavored oil will do.
- White and Brown Sugar: I love the flavor of brown sugar with sweet potatoes, it adds depth to the overall flavor of the bread, and helps with moisture. The half and half mix of these sugars in this recipe was determined after testing to give the perfect texture.
- Pecans: Roughly chop the pecans before adding them. You want to be able to see them in the finished product. Leave out the nuts if you don’t want them for any reason.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How to Make Sweet Potato Bread
- Prepare: Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C, and grease an 8.5 x 4.55” inch loaf pan with butter or spray oil.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together sugars, eggs, water, oil, and mashed sweet potato.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Combine: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix just until there are almost no more patches of dry flour. Do not overmix.
Tip!
Do Not Overmix! It’s very important that you mix the batter just the right amount. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with long, slow strokes, using as few of them as possible.
- Add Nuts: Gently fold in the chopped pecans.
- Fill Pan: Pour batter into a prepared loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
- Cool: Allow the sweet potato bread to cool completely on a baking rack before removing from the pan and serving.
Tips for Making this Sweet Potato Bread Recipe
- Change up the Pan. This recipe can be made into muffins or mini loaves rather than the large loaf pan. Adjust the baking time, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of a muffin.
- The Batter Should Be Wet. The batter for this bread is wet and loose, almost runny. This is totally perfect. Don’t try to add more flour or anything else to firm it up, the firming will happen during baking.
- Sift Dry Ingredients. I find it easiest to measure all of my dry ingredients into a bowl over a fine mesh sieve. This allows me to sift all of them together and get any lumps out.
- Lower the Fat. Substitute applesauce for all or some of the oil in this recipe. It will be just as delicious!
How to Serve Sweet Potato Bread
Enjoy this bread for breakfast with a delicious cup of French Press Coffee!
Add slices to lunchboxes along with their favorite sandwiches or salads. Try these Hummus Veggie Wraps for something different.
While you’re planning for Thanksgiving Dinner, include sweet potato bread on your appetizer or dessert list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, this recipe makes delicious muffins or mini loaves. Adjust the baking time and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of a muffin.
Maple syrup actually tastes amazing with sweet potatoes! I haven’t tested it personally, but if I was going to, I’d use ¼ cup of maple syrup in place of the same amount of white sugar for added flavor but the same amount of sweetness.
I haven’t tried it, but I think it would work really well. Pumpkin and sweet potato are generally interchangeable in baked good recipes. Try canned pumpkin, or make your own pumpkin puree.
I think the definition of healthy depends on your own personal dietary needs. I do believe that this recipe is nutritious with the addition of sweet potato and nuts, but it is a quick bread made with flour and sugar, so healthy is relative!
You are going to love making and eating this delicious sweet potato bread recipe! Make sure to pin it so you’ll have it for later.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Sweet Potato Bread
Equipment
- 9×5 inch loaf pan
Ingredients
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar light or dark
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil or sunflower or corn oil, Note 1
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato Note 3
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour sifted, Note 2
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup pecans roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), or 160°C for a fan oven. Line a 9×5 inch (approx 23×13 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, eggs, oil, water, vanilla extract, and the mashed sweet potato.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg).
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix until there are no dry patches of flour but do not over mix (this is very important).
- Fold in the chopped pecans.
- Place the loaf pan in the oven and bake for approximately 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow the sweet potato bread to cool completely on a rack before removing from the pan and serving.
Notes:
- You can substitute applesauce for all or some of the oil in this recipe.
- Wheat flour can be used in place of all-purpose flour, but keep in mind that the bread will be a little dense.
- Canned sweet potato puree can be used in this recipe, or you can boil sweet potatoes or steam them and make the mash yourself.
- Batter will be wet and loose, and that’s what you’re looking for.
- This bread is super moist and tender, it does not break (but it’s not dry). And it’s not overly sweet, the sweetness level is just right.
- This recipe can be used to make muffins, but adjust the baking time to 20-25 minutes.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Patricia says
I’ve made this several times and added a banana before but this time I had an orange that was getting past it’s prime so I zested it and used the zest and juice instead of the water and cashews instead of the pecans, it turned out great!
Little Sunny Kitchen says
That sounds delicious! I love how you used what you had in the kitchen to kick up the recipe flavors!