Sweet Potato Bread

November 22, 2021

This sweet potato bread recipe is moist, sweet and cinnamon spiced: a quick bread that’s ideal as a side dish or snack.

Here’s a quick bread that’s begging to be part of your fall baking repertoire: Sweet Potato Bread! This alterative to pumpkin bread is even more fun than the classic, we think. Why? It’s incredibly moist and sweetly spiced, with cinnamon and a beautiful nuance from the sweet potato. This recipe makes a tall, fluffy loaf that looks impressive. It’s ideal for fall occasions of all kinds (especially Thanksgiving!). You can also make a sweet potato muffins version of it, too. Ready to get started?

Three ways to cook the sweet potato

You might think you’d start this recipe by roasting a sweet potato: which can take about 45 minutes for a medium spud. But don’t worry: we’ve got some time saving tricks! Here are our top 3 ways to cook a sweet potato for this sweet potato bread:

Microwave (8 minutes): This Microwave Sweet Potato method is fast and easy, but you will need to read up on a few pointers. Head to the recipe for all our tricks! Sometimes a microwaved potato can come out a little dry: if so, add a few teaspoons of water while mashing to to re-hydrate it.
Steamed (30 minutes): This method takes a little longer, but it makes perfectly moist potatoes. Go to Steamed Sweet Potato.
Quick baked: This Quick Baked Sweet Potato method has a shortcut: cut the potatoes in half! This method saves loads of time in the oven.

Even better? Make this bread with a leftover sweet potato! It’s a great use for leftovers: you’ll need just 1 cup mashed potato.

How to make sweet potato bread: a few tips!

Once you’ve cooked the sweet potato, this sweet potato bread is just like any other quick bread! Mix the wets, mix the dries, mix them all together and bake it up! Here are a few tips before you scroll to the recipe below:

Avoid overmixing. Overmixing creates “tunneling” or air pockets in a quick bread. Mix the wets and dries in the batter until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.
Bake 45 minutes, then add foil. This helps so the nuts on top do not burn.
Bake another 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out with no gooey batter. You can also measure by the internal temperature: use a food thermometer to see whether it is 200 degrees.

Mix-ins and flavor variations

There are lots of ways to mix up this sweet potato bread depending on your preferences. Here are a few other ideas to make it shine:

Nuts in the batter: Place the pecans in the batter, or use walnuts instead
Chocolate chips: Add ½ cup dark chocolate chips to the batter
Drizzle: Drizzle with 1-Minute Powdered Sugar Icing, like this Applesauce Bread
Cinnamon: Use 1 tablespoon cinnamon instead of 2 teaspoons for a more intense flavor
Dairy free: Use non-dairy milk like oat milk (for vegan, you can try with a flax egg, but we have not tested this variation)

Storage info for sweet potato bread

Once you’ve baked up your loaf of sweet potato bread, it stores well at room temperature, refrigerated, or frozen. Here are our storage recommendations:

Room temp: The bread lasts 4 to 5 days at room temperature wrapped in aluminum foil.
Refrigerated: Store it refrigerated for 10 days. Keep in mind the refrigerator can dull teh flavors, so leave a slice out for a few minutes before eating.
Frozen: Store the bread frozen for 3 months. Slice it into pieces and wrap it in plastic wrap then a freezer-safe bag or container.

More quick bread recipes

Quick breads are so versatile: you can eat them as a side dish, for breakfast, or a snack! Outside of this sweet potato bread, here are a few more quick breads we love:

Try our favorite Spiced Applesauce Bread
Go for Pumpkin Banana Bread or Healthy Pumpkin Bread
Try Easy Banana Nut Bread or Easy Chocolate Banana Bread
Grab Easy Zucchini Bread
Opt for Easy Cranberry Bread

This sweet potato bread recipe is…

Vegetarian. For dairy-free, use dairy-free milk.