Spiced Maple Bread โ 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 madeย 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 veryย heavy-handedย 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 ofย Stella Artois, chosen by default. Use what you enjoy.
I’m inย Arubaย 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 ofย 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,ย 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)
- โ cup maple syrup, I used sugar-free
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ยฝ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ยฝ teaspoon ground cloves
- ยฝ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
- 2 ยฝ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 12 ounces beer (I used Stella Artois
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 9ร5-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 thatโs 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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Really loved, made two batches first time just cuz I knew it was going to be good, and it did not disappoint! I get to eat one and give one as a gift. Posted of FB too, such a great bread for this season!
Oh thanks for the feedback Ruby and glad you loved this recipe and made a double batch from the get-go! Thanks for sharing on FB as well!
This is exactly the kind of bread I was looking for to use up some sweet potatoes I have. Didn’t want anything too sweet and love that you describe it as dense, yet moist. Can’t wait to get my bread in the oven.
Oh enjoy!! Sounds like it will be right up your alley! LMK how it comes out!
I just made this, but swapped the all purpose for 2 cups of whole wheat flour. It is fantastic! Great flavour and texture. Thanks for all the great recipes!
That’s awesome that it turned out great for you with whole wheat flour. Sometimes swapping WW for AP flour can be tricky since there’s less gluten in it and it rises less easily but glad everything worked out so well!
Is there a yeast amount you could substitute the beer for?
Could you substitute ginger ale for the beer? (If you don’t drink…)
I don’t think so because you need the yeast from the beer to help the bread rise.
I have this in the oven now and it literally will not bake… I followed the directions 100% and am an experienced baker. This has been in the oven for an hour and forty minutes nearly, when the recipe says it will be done after forty minutes. Just stuck a knife in it and it’s still batter-y! Very disappointing.
I’m sorry that you’re having difficulty. If your sweet potato was extremely moist, that could be part of it. If you’ve had something in the oven more than 2x the amount of time the recipe says, and it hasn’t charred to crisp, maybe your oven temperature is off. Just trying to brainstorm. Thanks for trying the recipe.
I want to make this bread so bad! I am gluten free and am debating what flour to use … any help?
I would just use your favorite GF baking blend and hope for the best. You never know til you try!
It says to put in a prepared pan. What exactly does that mean? Greased?
Re-read step 1 of the recipe.
This is perfection, yum! I would love to have a go at the savory version too :)