Sweet Potato Bread

We enjoy sweet potatoes just as much as pumpkins in our fall baking recipes. Sweet potato’s caramel-y flavor pairs perfectly with fall spices, which is exactly why we love this recipe for warm and cozy sweet potato bread. Each slice is tender and moist, filled with an aromatic blend of cinnamon, ginger and cloves. We dot raisins and walnuts in the batter for sweet and nutty flavors, giving each slice a little more texture and flair.

Sweet Potato Bread Ingredients

• All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour lends the perfect crumb structure because it isn’t quite as dense as bread flour or as delicate as cake flour.
• Cinnamon: Did you know there are different types of cinnamon? Any type will work in this recipe, but feel free to branch out with Ceylon, Saigon or Korintje cinnamon for an upgraded flavor profile.
• Ginger: Zippy ginger adds a bright note to this bread.
• Cloves: Spicy cloves make this bread feel warm and cozy.
• Eggs: Make sure your eggs are at room temperature so they blend into the batter better.
• Sweet potatoes: Sweet potatoes are what this recipe is all about! They add a lovely, caramelized flavor.
• Canola oil: Oil is liquid in its natural state. This keeps the bread soft and moist, unlike butter which solidifies at room temperature.
• Raisins: Raisins add nice dots of sweetness and a pleasant chew to the bread.
• Walnuts: Walnuts impart a lovely nutty taste and crunchy texture to this bread.

Directions

Step 1: Create the batter

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, sweet potatoes, oil and milk until blended. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Fold in the raisins and walnuts.

Editor’s Tip: Be sure not to overmix once the dry and wet ingredients are combined. Doing so will overdevelop the gluten and result in tough, dense bread. Instead, stir just until everything comes together.

Step 2: Bake the bread

Taste of Home

Transfer the batter to two greased 9×5-inch loaf pans. Bake the loaves until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Cool the loaves in the pans at room temperature for 10 minutes. Remove the loaves from the pans, and place them on wire racks to cool completely to room temperature.

Recipe Variations

• Dot in cranberries: Not a fan of raisins? Swap them out for sweet-tart dried cranberries.
• Replace the walnuts: Omit the walnuts completely or replace them with toasted pecans. It’s up to you!
• Swap in pumpkin: No sweet potatoes? No problem! Our Test kitchen did a deep dive into the best canned pumpkin brand. You may need two cans for this recipe, with some pumpkin puree left over.
• Sprinkle on a streusel topping: Nothing dresses up a quick bread quite like a sugary streusel topping. Steal the one from our blueberry streusel muffins recipe.
• Finish with a glaze: A quick vanilla glaze will add such a nicely finished look and a touch of sweetness to this bread. A maple glaze would pair well with the sweet potatoes and fall spices.

How to Store Sweet Potato Bread

To store, allow the sweet potato bread to cool to room temperature. Place the loaves in airtight containers, or wrap each of them tightly a few times in storage wrap. Store the loaves at room temperature for up to three days.

Can you freeze sweet potato bread?

Yes, you can freeze sweet potato bread. Allow the bread to cool to room temperature. Place the loaves in airtight containers, or wrap each of them tightly a few times in storage wrap, followed by a final layer of aluminum foil. Freeze the loaves for up to three months.

To thaw, place the loaves in the fridge overnight, and serve at room temperature. You can refreshen the loaves in a 325° oven until warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes. Or rewarm slices of the bread by gently heating them in the microwave.

Sweet Potato Bread Tips

Taste of Home

Can you make mini sweet potato bread loaves from this recipe?

Yes, you can make mini sweet potato bread loaves. Simply transfer the batter to four greased 5-3/4x3x2-inch loaf pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool the loaves at room temperature in the pans for 10 minutes before removing the loaves to wire racks to cool to room temperature.

How should I cook the sweet potatoes?

We recommend roasting the sweet potatoes, whole with skins on, in the oven. Roasting causes the natural sugars to caramelize, intensifying the sweet potatoes’ flavors. Boiling or microwaving the sweet potatoes works just fine, too. You can also use canned sweet potatoes, but don’t reach for canned yams thinking they’re the same. Yams and sweet potatoes are actually different from one another.

What to do if you don’t have canola oil?

If you don’t have canola oil, don’t fret! Replacing oils in baking is probably the easiest swap to make in a recipe. Canola oil is a neutral-tasting oil, so find something similar. Sunflower seed oil and vegetable oil are great alternatives. Olive oil isn’t exactly neutral tasting, but it works well in a pinch ( just make sure it isn’t infused with any extra flavorings).