Sweet Potato Bread

I guarantee this Sweet Potato Bread recipe will become your new go-to quick bread. It’s flavorful, lightly sweetened, incredibly moist (but not gluey), and even healthy! Yes, you know me, this sweet potato bread is made with 100% whole-wheat flour—because if you can make something healthier without sacrificing flavor, why the heck not?!

So, what is sweet potato bread?

This sweet potato bread is a quick bread recipe. What does that mean exactly? Well a quick bread is a type of bread recipe that utilizes quick-acting leaveners, such as baking soda or baking powder. Using these quick-acting leaveners allows you to bake the bread immediately.

To put it another way, you don’t have to use yeast, which means you don’t have to wait for the dough to rise. 

Also, most quick bread recipes (banana bread, zucchini, bread, etc.) are essentially cake. That’s why I like to put my “healthy-ish” spin on quick breads whenever I can. But that’s beside the point.

This sweet potato bread recipe has all the usual suspects of a quick bread; flour, eggs, sugar, oil, and milk. However, instead of mashed banana or shredded zucchini, this recipe utilizes puréed sweet potato. 

The sweet potato adds natural sweetness, flavor and moisture to the bread, much like mashed banana or pumpkin purée would. 

How to make sweet potato bread

Aside from whipping up a sweet potato purée (which is totally hands-off), nothing is out of the ordinary here. Follow the visual step-by-step guide below for perfect sweet potato bread!

• First, combine dry ingredients; set aside.
• Whisk together wet ingredients until smooth.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.

• Mix batter just until it starts to come together (there should still be pockets of flour).
• Fold in dried cranberries just until combined.
• Transfer batter to prepared baking pan; smooth top.
• Combine topping ingredients then sprinkle evenly over batter.

Sweet potato bread with whole wheat flour

It’s no secret that I love to makeover quick breads to be healthier. Because, as I said earlier, often times they are cake disguised as breakfast. 

So how do you make a healthy banana, zucchini or sweet potato bread? First things first, you’ve got to swap out the nutrient-void all-purpose flour for something a little more wholesome, ehem, whole wheat flour. 

For recipes that are more delicate, like a quick bread or cake, I like to use whole-wheat pastry flour. It’s lighter and finer than regular whole wheat flour and allows me to swap out the all-purpose flour completely without compromising on texture. 

In addition to whole wheat flour, I always opt for olive oil over butter and make sure to use natural sweeteners like coconut sugar, honey or maple syrup.

Make this sweet potato bread vegan 

SWAP THE BUTTERMILK FOR VEGAN BUTTERMILK.

HOW TO MAKE VEGAN BUTTERMILK:

1. Combine ⅓ cup unsweetened almond or soy milk with 1 teaspoon white vinegar.
2. Let the mixture rest for 5–10 minutes until curdled.
3. Use as directed in the recipe.

SWAP THE EGG FOR A FLAX OR CHIA EGG.

HOW TO MAKE A FLAX OR CHIA EGG:

1. Grind 2 tablespoons flax or chia seeds in a spice grinder.
2. Combine ground flax or chia with ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons water and let rest 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
3. Use as directed in the recipe.

Make sweet potato muffins 

You can easily bake this sweet potato bread into muffins, here’s all you need to do:

1. Heat oven to 400°F and line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
2. Divide batter among muffin cups, sprinkle topping over batter.
3. Bake muffins until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centers come out clean; 15–20 minutes.
4. Let muffins cool in pan 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

More Healthy Quick Breads You May Like…

Olive Oil Banana Bread

Browned Butter Carrot Bread

Lemony Zucchini Bread

Buckwheat Quick Bread

Pear & Fennel Bread

Make sure to tag me @ZESTFULKITCHEN ON INSTAGRAM or comment below if you make this Sweet Potato Bread!

To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can click the button on any of the photos, or the red button on the side bar or below the recipe. Happy baking!

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