Spiced Maple Bread — No sugar, no eggs, no butter, and no kneading in this soft, fluffy, super moist and flavorful quick bread!
Lightly Spiced Maple Syrup Bread
I don’t know if beer is exactly healthy, but let’s say it is.
It would mean that this bread is pure health food. Sure, I’ll go with that.
When I made Honey Beer Bread, I was so pleased with the taste, texture, and ease of the one-bowl, no-kneading recipe, I knew I had to experiment more.
This maple bread is vegan and refined sugar-free. That’s right, there are no eggs in this fluffy-rising loaf with a soft, moist, open crumb.
The natural sweetness from the sweet potato, along with maple syrup and robust dark molasses, provide a gentle and subtle sweetness.
What Does the Bread Taste Like?
This loaf has a firmer outer crust, with a soft, ridiculously moist, dense yet springy interior.
The sweet potato lends tons of moisture and slight texture, reminiscent of the texture you’d find in a grainy or wheaty loaf, minus any whole grains or whole wheat flour used.
The spices and maple flavor are present, but on the fainter side. Normally I go very heavy-handed with spices, but kept them to a modest level.
It makes excellent toast, and I bet it would have made excellent French toast, but the loaf was devoured in record time. My family commented on how soft and moist the bread is, and both of them scarfed down 2 slices of toast.
Then they asked for 2 more slices, each. There went the loaf.
Maple Bread Ingredients
To make this simple quick bread with maple syrup, you’ll need:
- Cooked, mashed sweet potato
- Oil
- Molasses
- Pure maple syrup (NOT pancake syrup)
- Ground cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Beer
What Type of Beer Should I Use?
I used one bottle of Stella Artois, chosen by default. Use what you enjoy.
I’m in Aruba and selected it from a local grocery store because it was 12-ounces and many local brews are bottled smaller. The label was in English and I could read it, and I’ve seen people drink it in bars in the U.S., so I figured it wasn’t awful.
How to Make Maple Bread
If you’re an experienced baker like I am, the prep time for this maple syrup bread takes about 5 minutes. Experienced or not, this is a very easy recipe!
Here’s an overview of how the bread is made:
- Microwave one small sweet potato, peel it, and mash it in a big mixing bowl.
- Add a drizzle of oil, molasses, pure maple syrup, and the spices.
- Stir in the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and pour a 12-ounce bottle of beer over it. It’ll foam up and look like a bubbling science experiment, which is the yeast in the beer interacting with the baking powder, and all those bubbles are going to help the dough rise in the oven!
- Turn the batter into a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool for at least 15 minutes before removing from the loaf pan!
Recipe Variations to Try
Make it savory: You can take this bread more savory by skipping the molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, and replacing with garlic powder, onion powder, curry, seasoning salt, or a favorite grill seasoning. I suggest agave instead of maple because it’s cleaner tasting and won’t compete as much with the savory elements.
Swap the sweet potato: I imagine you could use about 1/2 cup pumpkin puree if you have any lingering and begging to be used.
Swap the flour: I haven’t tested using whole wheat flour, but I wouldn’t use more than 50% or the bread could be very dense and/or not rise well. I have no idea if gluten-free flour blends will work.
Ways to Eat This Bread
You can enjoy this maple bread in savory or sweet recipes. Try it:
- As toast
- As sandwich bread
- In french toast or french toast casserole
- Topped with jam and / or butter
- With maple butter
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Spiced Maple Bread
Ingredients
- about 1/2 cup mashed sweet potato, the flesh from 1 small cooked and peeled sweet potato
- 2 tablespoons canola, vegetable, or melted coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons light, medium, dark molasses (not blackstrap, too bitter)
- ⅓ cup maple syrup, I used sugar-free
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 12 ounces beer (I used Stella Artois
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
- Add the sweet potato to a large mixing bowl (I microwaved the sweet potato for 7 minutes, let it cool momentarily, peeled it, and mashed it with a fork in the mixing bowl).
- Add the next 7 ingredients, through optional salt, and whisk to combine. Some small sweet potato lumps will be present and that’s okay.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and slowly pour the beer over the top. It will bubble and foam. Stir until combined and no white bits remain at bottom of bowl. Batter is thick, gloppy, and dense.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until top is domed, firm and set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
- Allow bread to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Slice using a serrated knife.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Quick Bread Recipes:
Cinnamon and Spice Sweet Potato Bread — 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!
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?
Sweet Potato Cornbread — Homemade cornbread just got better because it’s jazzed up with mashed sweet potatoes, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice!
Honey Beer Bread — The easiest beer bread ever! No kneading, no yeast, and guaranteed soft and fluffy results every time!
I like it when you put up bread recipes. I can TOTALLY eat more bread than cookies because it’s way healthier, right? Right.
Tonight I’m making an apple version of the honey beer bread. Yum.
I love making beer bread! Pinning to try!
I love beer bread and am so happy you’re experimenting with it! This sounds sooooo good!!
Averie!! It’s like this bread was made for me!! I love beer bread because I just can’t seem to stomach yeast breads yet and beer breads are totally user friendly you just can’t screw it up. I never would have thought of adding sweet potato but I always use whole grain flours and sometimes get too dense of a bread and I would love to experiment with this one because I think you’ve found the solution to that moisture! Pinned and can’t wait to try it.
Looks so good, Averie!! Hope you enjoyed your holidays!
The word “vegan” instantly cancels/balances out the word “beer.”
I feel like I learned that at baking school or something. Science!!
Sweet potato beer bread sound (and looks!) like a beautiful thing!! I love that it is quick and easy, but also totally healthy too!! And I do believe that there are proven healthy benefits of beer. Yay!!
Love this Averie!
Oh how I love a good beer bread! Being refined sugar free makes this one a winner in my book. I’ve made a few beer breads myself but they included refined sugar. Going to have to give this cleaner recipe a try!
Sweet potatoes and beer and bread. Nothing can be wrong with that combination! Love this. Pinning!
Thanks for pinning Erin!
I’m so intrigued by this recipe! I love how fluffy and light the bread looks-can’t wait to give it a whirl!
LMK how it goes!
I want to surprise Jon with this for dinner tonight. I’ve made beer bread and sweet potato bread but putting them both together sounds even better! I could easily pick up some beer today, but we have a variety pack of Angry Orchard Hard Cider in the fridge, so I thought the ginger apple flavor might be interesting in this. The photos are mouthwatering, especially the ones with all that melted butter…I’m breaking out the Kerrygold for this loaf!!!
I gave this a go with the hard cider and it is sooooo good! I left out the molasses and just put a pinch of the other spices in because the cider is pretty sweet and flavorful. I love the little pieces of sweet potato in it and had my first piece with butter and my 2nd with PB. The texture is wonderful and it is so easy to mix up–really love this one Averie!!!
So glad you made it and loved it, Paula! On the same day I posted the recipe, no less. That’s great! And being that I know nothing about beer, I bet certain beers could really play up certain elements and flavor profiles. Lucky you, you know way more than me and can have a field day :)
I read this comment early today and then the day just got away from me. But I knew when you said you were making it, you would. And about dinnertime I was thinking of you and wondering if you made it! The photos. Omg Aruba. Lighting is just horrid and I have to shoot in a way I never would in S.D. but glad you like them :) And I hope you broke out the KG! Oh random aside too when you said you put some PB on some. I just made some bourbon PB. I bet Jon would like that too if he’s a PB eater. I know he’s a bourbon guy! https://instagram.com/p/isdwBWxsXs/ ABout 1/4 cup (or a little more -LOL – in at the very end after it’s already smooth). And maybe a little brown sugar if you think it needs it.
That bread looks so light and moist! I love that secret beer trick in baked goods!
The combination of molasses and maple syrup with sweet potato? YUM! This looks like my kinda bread
molasses and maple syrup with sweet potato <---exactly :) My faves too!
I like that this could also be savory. It sounds amazing and imagine it smells heavenly. For the super beer nerds, I bet someone could play around with some of the richer, chocolatier beers for even more added or richer flavor.
I bet you’re totally right on all accounts! You could totally take it more savory, cheesy, or…chocolaty <----love that one :)
The texture of this bread is just amazing. I want to reach out to the pictures and eat a slice. Love sweet potatoes… so I definitely need to attempt making this bread really really soon!
Works as health food in my book! Love this flavor combination…although it makes me want to curl up in front of a roaring fire somewhere. ;)
Thanks Jess!
Beer bread is dandy! I am a fan.