A delicious yeasted bread with sweet potato puree, a cinnamon swirl and a crunchy topping that will have everyone coming back for more! It can be frozen and it makes great sweet toast.
It's like cinnamon bread, but sweeter and crunchier
I made this spice bread years ago for a baking group and thought it perfect for a repost since, for most of you reading this, the weather is cold, and it's the perfect season for bread baking.
Also, you might need a new holiday bread recipe. As if you didn't bake enough for the holidays, right? Have you tried the almond braid or the braided pulla? Just checking.
The spice swirl makes it sweet and moist, and the crunchy topping—well, you'll love it! It's a traditional streusel, but it adds a layer of flavor that makes the whole so much better than the parts.
This sweet potato bread makes great sweet toast, so it's great for breakfast and brunch. The cinnamon sugar caramelizes and adds even more crunch. You don't even need a topping.
And the recipe makes 2 loaves, so my top recommendation is to slice and freeze leftovers.
The sweet potatoes
It's a root vegetable with a starchy sweet flavor and texture. Depending on where you are in the world, you might have easy access to different varieties.
- Japanese: have pinkish-brown skin and a light yellow interior. It's the one I get year-round and use for this bread.
- Beauregard and Jewel: both types are easily available in the US and have similar skin but an orange interior. They give the bread a very different color.
- Hannah: both the skin and flesh are a pale yellow. I never baked with them, but they should work just fine as the texture is similar.
It turns out that baking them into bread is perfect as they will add moisture and an undefinable flavor – a good thing sometimes – but still, we do have to add some enhancer or tugboat to throw them into the limelight.
In this case, spices, a crowd-pleaser, and one of my favorite things in the history of ever. Spices make my kitchen come alive.
How to make sweet potato puree
Let’s not forget they’re more on the dry side; there’s never a need to drain them like we need to do when making pumpkin or squash puree.
- Microwave: this is a method I've used for years and it's fantastic because it takes anywhere between 5 to 10 minutes for a sweet potato to be easily pierced, depending on the size.
- Oven: this good old reliable method is just as good but it takes longer.
There's a post about homemade sweet potato puree you might want to read.
Sweet potato bread dough
A stand mixer is highly recommended. As with most bread, you can make them by hand, even those like the golden Pandoro recipe that has butter, but it's laborious to integrate well.
The dough is easy to make as all ingredients are added and the stand mixer does the job. The final dough should be sticky and slightly wet. Don't be tempted to add flour until it completely clears the sides of the bowl because that will make the bread dry.
Cinnamon sugar filling
Both the working surface and the rolling pin have to be lightly floured. Make sure you move and flip over the dough periodically so it doesn't stick, and lightly flour as needed.
The filling is similar to cinnamon rolls and, since the butter is melted, a brush is the easiest way to spread it.
Make a roll
Make it as tight as you can without overworking or tearing the dough. It will still unravel a little when baked, so don't be overly concerned with perfection.
The crumble
The dough is cut in half and fitted into the prepared pans. It's then topped with the crumble. It will be loose.
Baking
This is a cross between a cinnamon roll and a bread. And with yeast recipes, it's important to have that last full rise that will translate into a plump and fluffy (within reason as this is a denser dough) bread.
The loaves might crack open in the top, something I absolutely love about baked bread and loaf cakes, and here it has the bonus of the caramel oozing out too. I could’ve eaten the streusel and caramelized edges forever. Who says I didn’t, right?
Not too sweet as a whole, it does have a spicy syrup that forms while baking and looks almost like pumpkin or apple butter and a streusel that will be hard to leave alone.
The bread is all about the filling and the crunchy topping. You'll crave more of both. It makes delicious toast and bread pudding the day after.
It’s spice bread after all, and it’s all good.
Related recipes you might like:
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Sweet Potato Yeast Bread
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Ingredients
For the bread:
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ cup water, warm
- 1 cup sweet potato purée, see Notes below
- 1 cup buttermilk, warm
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, like sunflower oil
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, loosely packed
- 4 to 4 ½ cups bread or all-purpose flour
For the spice streusel:
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon orange or lemon zest, loosely packed
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, in pieces
For the spiced sugar:
- 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted + additional for pans
Instructions
For the bread:
- Butter two 9x5 inch loaf pans or use vegetable spray.
- Stir 1 tablespoon yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, and ¼ cup warm water in the bowl of the stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl if making it by hand, which is a bit laborious), and let stand until foamy, about 3 minutes.
- Add 1 cup sweet potato purée, 1 cup buttermilk, 3 tablespoons oil, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 egg, ½ teaspoon lemon zest and 1 cup flour to the yeast mixture and mix with the paddle attachment until it's all integrated.
- In the stand mixer: change to the dough hook attachment and mix at medium speed, adding ½ cup flour at a time until the dough starts to come together. The dough will be slightly sticky and not completely clear the sides of the bowl. Be careful not to add too much flour, or you will end up with a dry dough. By hand: stir with a spoon and add ½ cup flour at a time until the dough starts to come together and you can no longer stir. Transfer to a lightly floured counter and knead 7-8 minutes until the dough comes together but is still slightly sticky to the touch but can be kneaded. It might take you longer.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl, large enough so it can double in size comfortably, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free place until doubled, about 1 ½ hours. Check at 1 hour to see how much it's growing. If the room is warm, it might take less. If it's cold and the dough hasn't risen much, take it to a warmer place or wrap it in a blanket or sweater (yes).
- While the dough is proofing (rising), make the streusel and keep it refrigerated. Make the spiced sugar about 10 minutes before rolling the dough.
- Deflate the dough gently in the bowl with your closed fist. Transfer to a lightly floured board. The dough will be less sticky. Deflate gently again with your fingers.
- Using a lightly floured rolling pin, make a rectangle about ¼ inch thick. You might need to let it rest a few minutes between rolls to get it to the right thickness, as it might be elastic and shrink back. But you will be able to roll it a bit further with each resting period.
- Brush evenly with melted butter and sprinkle with the spiced sugar. It might seem like a lot but the result is wonderful. Carefully start rolling from the long side, as you would a cinnamon roll, trying to get a fairly tight rope.
- Cut the dough in half and place each piece into one pan.
- Sprinkle with the streusel, dividing evenly.
- Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise again until puffed, about 45 minutes.
- About 20 minutes before baking preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
- Bake loaves until golden and a cake tester or toothpick inserted comes out clean, from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Let stand a few minutes after you remove them from the oven. Run a smooth-bladed knife around the edges to unstuck any bits of dough, and then invert the bread carefully onto a wire rack. If you don’t do this while the bread is warm, the caramelized rim will harden and make it impossible to remove it later. If this happens, you’d have to pop them again into the oven for 5 minutes to loosen them up.
- Keep leftovers well wrapped in the freezer. I slice them so they're easier to defrost one at a time, especially if I plan on toasting them.
For the streusel:
- Mix ⅓ cup flour, ¼ cup sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon lemon zest, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger, and ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice in a medium bowl.
- Add 4 tablespoons (¼ cup) butter pieces and integrate them with a fork or pastry cutter until the mixture starts to clump. Cover and refrigerate.
For the spiced sugar:
- Mix 1 and ¼ cup light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, and ¼ teaspoon ground allspice in a medium bowl.
- Stir in ⅓ cup melted butter and mix until combined. Reserve while making the dough.
Notes
Adapted from Bread For All Seasons, by Beth Hensperger
Phyllis says
I am going to make this for family & friends at Christmas. I get ube jam and am going to make it with it. I am always looking for ways to incorporate the ube jam for different recipes. I do make cookies and mini brownies and now I can make bread. Thanks for all your great recipes.
Mary Jean Goodman says
This bread is absolutely delicious. I commented earlier about the incorrect metrics measurement of the puree and said I'd get back once the bread was done. Used instant yeast and it was fine. Followed the recipe exactly, though I did use parchment paper to line the pan so I could easily lift out the bread. You must make this...it's not difficult!
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Mary Jean, I'm glad it turned out so well! I'm curious how many grams of puree you used. Happy baking!
Mary jean goodman says
I used 1 cup which weighed 265 grams.
Paula Montenegro says
Thanks for getting back. I'll make a note about it in the recipe card.
Mary jean goodman says
I am making this right now, waiting for the dough to rise. The grams of sweet potato puree are wrong. The metric conversion is for 1/2 cup of puree. I will comment again when the bread is done.