Sweet Potato Bread

There’s a lot going on out in the world these days, but one of the silver linings is that engagement on my baking social media posts is way up – you all must be stuck in the house all day without anything to do or something.

For me, baking is a way to bring order and control when I feel like other aspects of my life are not in control. I think a global pandemic is pretty high up there on the “out of control” spectrum, so it was really nice to be able to take an hour this morning, drink my coffee, and do something that always calms me down.

This week, I’m sharing a recipe I actually have been making for years, but for some reason never put on the blog: Sweet Potato Bread. This recipe is adapted from Tasting Table and makes a treat somewhere between banana bread and zucchini bread – in other words, you can call it dessert, but you could also call it breakfast. Although I feel that way about most cake.

First, in a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, oil, vanilla, applesauce and water.

Using a rubber spatula, stir in the shredded sweet potato to incorporate.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Pour the batter into a 9×5 inch loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray. I used my yellow one because it’s happy!

Now for the part that pushes this away from zucchini bread and towards banana bread. Sprinkle the top with an even layer of turbinado sugar.

Bake at 350°F for 1 hour, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before turning out to cool completely.

The top kinda deflates a bit – don’t be alarmed. It doesn’t mean you’ve got an uncooked loaf (which was my immediate fear). It’s just because the sugar crust puffed up a bit and when it unpuffs it can crinkle up.

But that makes more little pieces to pick off in the name of science.

See? Fully cooked:

I had a piece of this warm for an afternoon snack. I think it would be really good with some cream cheese, too. Store wrapped in tin foil at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups sweet potato, peeled and shredded (one large sweet potato)
• 1/4 cup turbinado sugar

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, canola oil, applesauce and water.
3. Stir shredded sweet potato into the wet ingredients with a rubber spatula to incorporate.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
5. Pour batter into a 9×5 inch loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle turbinado sugar evenly over the top.
6. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack before turning out of pan to cool completely.