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!
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This sweet potato bread turned out ridiculously soft, moist, tender, and richly spiced. It’s almost like cake it’s so soft, tender, and springy!
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.
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.
This sweet potato bread is delicious, it’s like Starbucks pumpkin bread just better. Thanks for the awesome recipe 😋 — Crystal
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 together in a large bowl to create a sort of sweet potato puree.
- In another bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking soda, and a variety of spices.
- Add the wet ingredients 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 or you can opt for two 8×4 loaves (they will be short) or bake as a Bundt.
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 such as chopped pecans, 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
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!
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.
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.
No, it tastes more like a pumpkin bread. The bread is sweet, but not too sweet with just the right amount of natural sweetness from the sweet potatoes. The spices are homey and comforting.
Made this recipe for my neighbors. As usual, I made two loaves – one for my house, one as a gift. That first loaf lasted an hour before my family finished it off. — Amber
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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 mixed with the proper amount of water as stated on package)
- 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, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or 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. (Or boil in a pot of water on the stove, drain very well). Pour off any water. Mash sweet potatoes with a fork. Allow them to cool momentarily so you don't scramble the eggs.
- To the mashed 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; if it takes longer than 70 minutes, so be it – bake it longer. Baking Times – 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. No matter what, always bake until your item is done, however long that takes in your oven given your pan.
- Allow bread to cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
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!
Apple Pie Bread with Streusel Topping — 🍎🍏🍁 If you like apple crumble pie, you’re going to love this EASY no-mixer apple pie bread! Soft, tender, moist bread with the contrast of the slightly crunchy crumble topping is PERFECT!
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 and October 25, 2024 with updated text.
Hi! This looks wonderful! I have a dairy allergy in the family – has anyone tried this with almond milk instead of buttermilk? Think it would work ok? Thanks!
I would try to add a tsp of white vinegar then to the almond milk to mimic buttermilk.
Or make this recipe. It’s naturally vegan and there are also several other variations on it. https://www.averiecooks.com/cinnamon-sugar-pumpkin-bread/
Thanks! Yeah now that I think about it I’m pretty sure I used buttermilk last time, so that would make sense. Will try that next time =)
Made this bread once and absolutely loved it! However, made it this time with Greek yogurt instead of milk and ended up getting a really metallic taste and had to throw out the loaf =( any idea what I might be doing wrong? I used the same amount of baking soda as last time, but I’m curious if it’s too much…?
When you say milk, I am assuming you mean buttermilk, not milk. But maybe you mean milk.
If it tasted off when you used Greek yogurt, I possibly wonder if the Greek yogurt was a bit off and not at its peak because really there is not a ton of difference between Greek yogurt and buttermilk in this application because we’re only talking 1/4 cup in a whole loaf. Very hard to say what goes on with baking chemistry in various people’s kitchens, ingredients, etc.
Since you know how it tastes great given your ingredients, I would stick with that method :)
This has become my go to sweet potato bread recipe. Both kids love it! Today because I only had a small amount of sweet potato left over from dinner the other night I used about 3/4 cup of canned pumpkin left from another recipe and half a banana to get 1.5 cups total and it was awesome! I have also tried to make this gluten free but the only successful one was when I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten free mix (not the 1:1, but the mix that requires xanthum gum). AND I also cut the sugar by 1/2 cup each time as well. Typically I use 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar and 1/2 cup cane sugar. Oh! And one other substitute this time, in place of the oil, I used 1/4 cup melted coconut oil and 1/4 applesauce. This recipe really is so versatile ?
Glad this is a favorite for you and the kids and that the recipe is as flexible as it is given all the tweaks you’ve tried and that it still works!
Could I make this with boiled sweet potato chunks or is it important to steam them?
My only hesitation is that they will be very soggy and wet and that will weigh down the batter and the loaf may not rise. I would recommend steaming them for that reason.
Could this recipe be made gluten free? Has anyone tried it?
I haven’t tried but if you have a reliable GF flour mix or blend or brand that you use, you could try that in place of the AP flour.
This has become my go to sweet potato bread recipe. Both kids love it! Today because I only had a small amount of sweet potato left over from dinner the other night I used about 3/4 cup of canned pumpkin left from another recipe and half a banana to get 1.5 cups total and it was awesome! I have also tried to make this gluten free but the only successful one was when I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten free mix (not the 1:1, but the mix that requires xanthum gum). AND I also cut the sugar by 1/2 cup each time as well. Typically I use 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar and 1/2 cup cane sugar. Oh! And one other substitute this time, in place of the oil, I used 1/4 cup melted coconut oil and 1/4 applesauce. This recipe really is so versatile ?
Thanks for all the feedback with what you’ve tried and what works well. So glad this has become your go to sweet potato bread recipe!
I had Korean sweet potatoes leftover and I used this recipe. It turned out wonderful. My husband and 2 year old approved it. I did reduce the granulated sugar by 1/2 cups and used vanilla greek yogurt since I don’t like overly sweet bread. It was just right for us.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you with the tweaks you made!
Made the sweet potato bread but made into muffins. Subbed applesauce for oil. They were moist and so flavorful! Baked for 18 minutes. Will make again!!
Sounds like I need to try that! Glad it worked out wonderfully!
I baked the sweet potato bread gluten free. Everybody liked it.
Wonderful that you were able to make it GF!
Made both the apple and carrot plus sweet potato. Both turned out brilliantly thankyou for sharing cheers Lesley
Thanks for trying both recipes and I’m glad they came out great for you!
I just made this yesterday and even though I forgot the nutmeg (I even had the grater out and STILL forgot), it turned out delicious! Your recipes are amazing and I’m ever so thankful you share them with us. Thank you! :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Thanks for the compliments on my recipes :)
Most excellent. Easy, no exotic ingredients, made two 8×4. I used one can of sweet oitatoes.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
Thank you so much for this recipe, Averie! I have baked it a multiple times since I found it on your site. People keep asking me again and again for their piece of sweet potato bread and it’s easy to understand why. It’s so easy and tasty.
Dania
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Glad it’s a big hit with everyone and on the repeat make list!
Made muffins with this last night, so good! I had to start over with the sweet potatoes, 15 minutes was way too long in my microwave. I should have known that though, it’s very efficient. I didn’t have the variety of spices available so I did 1tbsp cinnamon and 3 tsp pumpkin spice. Greek yogurt for the dairy. 21 minutes to perfection. Made enough batter for about a dozen large muffins (I ended up with 12 medium and then 3 small). Thanks so much!
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it worked well for you. Yes, all microwaves are different and it can be a bit of a trial and error.