Cinnamon and Spice Sweet Potato Bread — Wondering what to do with those leftover sweet potatoes? Make this quick bread recipe! Sweet potatoes do a wonderful job of keeping this bread extremely soft and moist. It’s almost like cake it’s so soft, springy, and bouncy!
Table of Contents
Spiced Sweet Potato Quick Bread
Sweet potatoes are always a winner no matter how they’re prepared. But when baked into sweetly spiced soft bread, they become even better.
I had a couple sweet potatoes to use and rather than just roasting them or making fries with them, I mashed them and baked them into bread. I do it with bananas all the time. Why not sweet potatoes?
I was blown away by the results. The bread turned out ridiculously soft, moist, tender, and richly spiced. It’s almost like cake it’s so soft, tender, and springy. If you like carrot cake or pumpkin-based recipes, you’ll love this bread.
It’s easy to make, and no mixer is needed. Stir everything together and pop the loaf into the oven for about an hour. And your house will smell heavenly during that hour.
The sweet potatoes, oil, and buttermilk all do a wonderful job of keeping the bread supremely soft and moist. Although I’ve compared it to cake, it’s not cakey if that makes sense. It doesn’t have an airy, flaky crumb that many cakes have; otherwise known as being dry.
The interior is tender, springy, and bouncey with a dense crumb. The crust is firmer and slightly chewy. Normally I shun crust and edge pieces on bread, but I found myself seeking them out, like chewy edge pieces on brownies.
The bread is sweet, but not too sweet. A slice or two for breakfast, as a snack, or as a healthier after-dinner treat is how we’ve been enjoying it.
The spices are homey and comforting. Warming spices like the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves are my favorites. I have to restrain myself from making Molasses Cookies and other similar treats for most of the year because they’re out-of-season, so to speak.
The spices give the bread such great flavor and squelch my cravings. I want to snuggle up on the couch with a blanket and a cup of chai tea to wash it down with.
It’s perfect on it’s own and doesn’t even need butter. It’s that moist and flavorful. But twist my arm and a little butter never hurts. Or try a Vanilla Browned Butter Glaze for an extra treat.
Sweet potatoes can do no wrong.
Sweet Potato Bread Ingredients
This is such a quick and easy recipe for sweet potato bread that calls for very basic ingredients.
To make this sweet potato bread recipe, you’ll need:
- Sweet potatoes
- Water
- Eggs
- Canola oil
- Buttermilk
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Light brown sugar
- Baking soda
- Spices
- Salt
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Sweet Potato Bread
If you’ve made pumpkin bread before, you can certainly make a sweet potato loaf!
Full instructions can be found in the recipe card below, but here’s an overview of the baking process:
- Begin by steaming two medium sweet potatoes or one very large sweet potato. Drain off any water that’s pooled, and mash with a fork.
- After the potatoes cool just a bit so you don’t scramble the eggs, crack two eggs over them, add oil, vanilla, buttermilk (or yogurt or sour cream) and whisk.
- In another bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking soda, and a variety of spices.
- Add the wet to the dry, and mix until combined. Take your time and make sure everything is well combined, but use a gentle hand when stirring so you don’t over-develop the gluten, resulting in tougher bread.
- Turn the batter out into a 9×5-inch loaf pan or two 8×4-inch pans. I used one 9×5-inch and will probably opt for two 8×4 loaves next time or bake as a Budnt.
Recipe Variations
One thing I love about this recipe is how easy it is to customize! Here are some simple recipe variations you can try:
- Adjust the spices: I used cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Feel free to mix-and-match the spices based on what you have and enjoy. Try pumpkin pie spice, cardamom, or other favorites.
- Add mix-ins: You can try adding mix-ins like chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or dried fruit.
- Use a different loaf pan: I used a 9×5-inch loaf pan to make this recipe, but two 8×4-inch pans will also work. Or, use a small Bundt pan.
- Make muffins: Skip the loaf pan altogether and make muffins instead! Reduce the bake time to 18 – 22 minutes (use your best judgement when testing for doneness).
Recipe FAQs
Bread will keep at room temperature for up to 1 week. I store my bread by wrapping the completely cooled loaf in plasticwrap, and then placing loaf inside a gallon-sized Ziplock.
I’m sure you can! I imagine this sweet potato spice bread will keep up to 6 months in the freezer.
Possibly, but I’ve only made the recipe as written so I can’t say for sure. If you give this a try, leave me a comment letting me know how your bread turned out!
I can’t say for certain since I’ve only made this recipe as written. However, I imagine you’d need to use a gluten-free flour blend that’s designed for baking rather than something like almond flour (which is far too heavy).
Tips for Making Sweet Potato Bread
If you have another method for steaming sweet potatoes, go for it. I do it in the microwave because it’s fast and easy.
You could roast the sweet potatoes, but that takes almost an hour, the potatoes will be drier from being roasted than steamed, and you’d need to make some tweaks with dry and wet ingredient ratios in your batter.
I love cinnamon and the bread is well-spiced and robust, without being overpowering. Many times sweet potato, pumpkin, or carrot-based cakes and breads can be so bland and blah.
Orange root vegetables are very hearty and can really soak up, and necessitate, plenty of spice. I made sure to account for that, but add spices to taste.
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Cinnamon Sweet Potato Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups mashed sweet potatoes, 2 medium or 1 very large
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- ¼ cup buttermilk, or yogurt, Greek yogurt, sour cream, or buttermilk powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray one 9-by-5-inch loaf pan (what I used), or two 8-by-4-inch loaf pans, or a 10-cup Bundt pan, or a muffin pan with floured cooking spray or grease and flour the pan(s); set aside.
- Peel the sweet potatoes and chop them into 1-inch sized chunks. Place chunks in a large, shallow microwave-safe bowl. Add 3 tablespoons water, cover with plastic wrap, and cook on high power for 15 to 17 minutes, or until potatoes are very fork-tender. Pour off any water. Mash sweet potatoes with a fork. Allow them to cool momentarily so you don’t scramble the eggs.
- To the sweet potatoes, add the eggs, oil, buttermilk, vanilla and whisk until combined; set aside. (I used buttermilk powder and added 1 tablespoon powder to the dry ingredients and 1/4 cup water to this wet mixture)
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients – flour, sugars, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, optional salt, and whisk to combine.
- Pour the wet sweet potato mixture over the dry ingredients, and stir to incorporate. Take your time stirring until no stray bits of dry ingredients are visible, folding and scraping the bottom of the bowl with a spatula as necessary because it’s very easy to miss dry ingredients hiding at the bottom of the bowl in this batter. Stir and fold with a gentle hand as to not over-mix and over-develop the gluten, which results in tougher bread.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan(s), smoothing the top lightly with a spatula. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes for a 9×5 pan, or until top is domed, golden, loaf is springy to the touch, and cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Tent pan with foil in the last 15 minutes of cooking if top is browning a bit fast before interior has cooked through.
- Allow bread to cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- I estimate that 8×4 loaves will take about 40 to 45 minutes, a Bundt about 1 hour, muffins about 18-20 minutes, but I haven’t tried those versions and they are just guesstimates.
- Bread will keep at room temperature for up to 1 week. I store my bread by wrapping the completely cooled loaf in plasticwrap, and then placing loaf inside a gallon-sized Ziplock.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Fall Bread Recipes:
ALL OF MY QUICK BREAD RECIPES!
Applesauce Bread with Cinnamon Honey Butter – This applesauce bread is packed with fall flavors and comes together quickly. I serve mine with homemade honey butter, because why not?
Apple Carrot Bread— This apple carrot bread tastes like carrot cake that’s been infused with apples. It’s a no mixer recipe that goes from bowl to oven in minutes!
Pumpkin Banana Bread with Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting – This quick bread pairs two of my favorites, pumpkin bread and banana bread, with plenty of cinnamon-and-spice and scrumptious frosting to boot
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread — This is without a doubt the BEST pumpkin bread recipe! This pumpkin cream cheese bread tastes like it has cheesecake baked into the middle. You’ll definitely want a second slice!
Applesauce Bread with Cinnamon Honey Butter— This applesauce bread is packed with fall flavors and comes together quickly. I serve mine with homemade honey butter, because why not?
Cranberry Orange Bread— The fresh cranberries in this cranberry orange bread contrast nicely with the sweet orange glaze, making it the perfect blend of sweet and tart!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread— This pumpkin chocolate chip bread is truly the best homemade pumpkin bread you’ll ever make. It’s moist, packed with chocolate chips, and tastes like fall!
Apple Fritter Bread — The bread tastes as decadent as the apple fritters of my childhood, no deep frying required and it’s more like cake disguised as bread.
Originally posted April 3, 2013 and reposted September 18, 2020 with updated text.
Hey! I just found this recipe on Pinterest and just HAD to try it. We love sweet potatoes and I had a few on hand that I kept forgetting to cook. So, we put them to use with this gem of a recipe.
I had more than enough to make a single batch, but not enough to make a double batch, so I went with 3 parts sweet potato and 1 part butternut squash. I used sour cream instead of buttermilk, and I went with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and ginger for spices. I made two loaves and a bundt.
The results were DELICIOUS, MOIST AND AMAZING!! Even my husband who doesn’t even like sweet potatoes OR butternut squash (which boosted to vitamin content without affecting the flavor at all, by the way) said it was fantastic! He ate two pieces last night and one or two for breakfast today! We’re almost through the second loaf already, and it’s been less than 24 hours!
I’m saving the bundt for a potluck next weekend. I’m wrapping it and freezing it until we’re ready to use it. Wish me luck that it freezes well. If so, I know a new healthy & easy-to-eat food to make for new moms. Thanks for sharing! :)
Thanks for trying this and love the idea of 3 parts sweet potato and 1 part butternut squash. I have no worries about this freezing well; bread in general usually freezes well. And glad that you were able to get 2 loaves and a Bundt of of this!
Where’s the chopped nuts? Pecan pieces would be great, I think. I’m going to make this delicious sounding recipe tonight! Thanks for sharing!!
I am addicted to Sweet Potato! I use it in breads, cupcakes, cakes, custard, cookies and even frosting!! They are my favourite dessert vegetable.
I love a new twist in recipes. I want to try the sweet potato bread. BUT it has way too much sugar in the recipe. Any suggestions?
You could reduce the level to something you’re comfortable with. For me, if sweet potato and/or pumpkin recipes aren’t adequately seasoned and with a reasonable amount of sugar, they taste horribly bland and just not good and I’d rather not even bother. I assure you this bread doesn’t taste “too sweet”. It’s nice, but not overwhelming. I recommend making the recipe once as written and then altering it, to your taste.
Averie, I see that the recipe calls for sweet potatoes but in your picture it looks like yams. Which one do you use?
I have made it with both yams and sweet potatoes and a mix/combo. Both are great! Use what you prefer and can find.
Wow, this recipe looks sooo good, I’m definitely pinning it for later. Though I must admit I have a serious pet peeve with the use of the term ‘quick bread’ in the English language. In Spanish we call everything cake (torta or pastel, according to the country), though cakes baked in a loaf pan are usually referred to as budín.
So, what would be the difference between a quick bread and a cake? Other than the method, of course (if you cream a quick bread or mix everything together on a cake, I’m sure they’ll turn out pretty much the same).
Hi there, can you use olive oil instead of vegetable or canola oil or ones it just not work? I am clueless but I only have olive or coconut oil in my pantry :-). I am going to make this tonight!
I really don’t love the taste of olive oil in my sweets/baking recipes and so I personally wouldn’t use it. I do love baking with coconut oil and I would totally use that! In fact, this recipe would be amazing with coconut oil! LMK how it works out!
The bread is amazing, I used the coconut oil and pumpkin pie spice instead of all spice & cloves as I did not have. This bread ticked all the boxes for us, I ‘loved’ it and my hubby went for 2 serves last night. I am an Aussie with an infatuation for all the American pumpkin type baking recipes which are not common here at all :-)
Thanks for trying the recipe, Jo! I’m so glad you and your hubby both loved it and that you used coconut oil, too. I love baking with it and it’s great in this bread! I have a book coming out with lots of recipes that you’re going to love – stay tuned for announcements :)
I used canola oil instead of vegetable oil and whole milk instead of buttermilk and organic flour. I also made my own brown sugar so that it didn’t have sulfite. Served it for easter dessert and it was a huge hit. Definitely should make two loaves when u make it. Yum yum. Also I skipped the allspice. Fabulous and will make again.
I use canola when I make this or coconut oil (not everyone is a fan, but I am!) and that adds another dimension of flavor. If you like coconut oil, try it here! Glad you loved the bread and will make it again!
Could I use canned yams for this??
Probably although I haven’t personally tried it that way.
Once again, you have created a winner!!! We had more sweet potatoes in our CSA than my husband and I could eat, and this was a perfect way to use up the remaining potatoes. This moist bread really hit the spot! Plus, I feel like I’m getting more vitamins from this bread than usual with those yummy sweet potatoes ;) Thanks for this great recipe! Nothing but delicious from your recipes so far!!
Oh, and I used greek yogurt instead of buttermilk and it worked wonders! Just in case anyone is wondering :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad to know that Greek yog worked instead (I’m sure it would; it’s thicker than buttermilk so I bet your bread was supremely moist!) and yes to using up those CSA taters! Thanks for trying the recipe & glad it worked so well for you as have my others!
This looks incredible! Is it possible to substitute canned sweet potatoes?
I haven’t tried so not sure. Likely canned will be wetter, thus you may need more flour, but I don’t know (if for sure) or how much more.