Wondering what to do with all your extra sweet potatoes? Bake up this fruity sweet potato bread recipe for 2 loaves – one to eat and one to share! It makes a perfect gift for your favorite foodie friends!
Whether you’ve had a bumper crop, or wondering what to do with extra sweet potatoes from your holiday meals, this sweet potato bread bakes up quick. Pineapple and applesauce give it fruity sweetness, so there’s less sugar in the recipe. And coarsely chopped pecans give their own nutty sweetness to the bread.
Here’s how to make this sweet (but not too sweet!) potato quick bread
Ingredients
This recipe is a simple quick bread using basic baking ingredients. I’ve been baking quick breads since I was a kid in 4-H. Those blue ribbons at the county fair were very motivating back in the day!
I like to use roasted sweet potatoes that I’ve pureed. Roasting them creates a richer flavor than canned or boiled. If you’re roasting young fingerling sweet potatoes, the skin can be pureed too!
Dry Ingredients
- 3 cups of ¾ cup packed brown sugar -This recipe is light on sugar, the potatoes and fruit do all the sweetening!
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground nutmeg – you could replace these two spices with 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice if you’d like a more pumpkin spice flavor!
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans. Walnuts are great option if you’re out of pecans. Or you can omit the nuts entirely if desired.
Wet Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes. Any orange variety will work great.
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten. Home raised or other farm fresh eggs have a darker golden yolk and enhance the color of the bread.
- 1 ½ cup crushed pineapple, drained. Use the best quality canned pineapple you can find.
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce. This replaces the oils found in many recipes. It’s a healthier option. However, fats in the recipe will give you a better browning color and a bit more tenderness. You can substitute with ½ cup of your usual baking oil (vegetable, canola, etc.) if you’d like.
- 2 tablespoons of butter. My favorite way to grease baking pans is to use salted butter. But feel free to use your favorite oil for the pans. It helps the bread slide right out after baking.
Directions
Here’s why I love quick breads: they mix up quick!
- Preheat oven to 325°F and butter your two 9×5 Combine all dry ingredients (except the nuts) in a large bowl. Whisk or sift them together.
- In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients (except the butter) in this order: eggs, applesauce, sweet potatoes, pineapple.
- Mix the wet into the dry gently. Only mix until the white flour disappears. Overmixing will make the bread tough.
- Stir in the nuts.
- Pour equal amounts of batter into the two bread pans.
- Bake for about 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the bread. Finish time will depend on the moisture level of your sweet potatoes and fruits.
- Tip the bread out of the pans onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Sweet Potato Pineapple Quick Bread
Ingredients
- 3 Cups All-purpose flour
- ¾ Cup Brown Sugar
- 2 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1 tsp. Baking powder
- 1 tsp. Table salt
- 2 tsp. Ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. Nutmeg
- 2 Eggs lightly beaten
- 1 ½ Cups Sweet potato cooked and mashed
- 1 ½ Cups Crushed pineapple drained
- ½ Cup Unsweetened applesauce
- 1 Cup Coarsly chopped pecans (optional)
- 2 Tbs. Salted Butter to oil baking pans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325℉
- Lightly grease two 9×5 bread pans with butter.
- Whisk together in a large bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
- In a separate bowl, combine: beaten eggs, applesauce, pineapple, and sweet potato.
- Gently mix wet ingredients into dry until no flour is showing. Do not overmix.
- Fold in nuts.
- Pour dough evenly into the two bread pans.
- Bake at 325° For 60 to 70 minutes.
- When toothpick comes clean out of center of the bread, remove from oven. Tip bread out of bread pans and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
- Switch out the pineapple for 1/2 cup golden raisins that have been soaked in 1/2 cup of fruit juice for an hour or so.
- Use dried sweetened cranberries and chopped walnuts instead of pineapple and pecans to create a winter season flavor.
- If you omit applesauce, add an equivalent amount of baking oil such as vegetable or canola oil instead. Using oil will give the bread a browner top and produce a slightly lighter textured bread.
FAQs
Absolutely! Use the paddle attachment and start on low. Combine the wet ingredients first, slowly add in the dry ingredients then the nuts. Just like mixing by hand, only stir until the ingredients are combined. Over-mixing will toughen the dough.
Sure! The flavor of canned sweet potatoes isn’t as robust as freshly roasted, but they work well too.
Yes! Freeze a loaf in an airtight container (like these from King Arthur Baking) for up to 3 months. Any longer than that and the bread will start to dry out or possibly get freezer burn.
Try substituting the pineapple with golden raisins that have been soaked in 100% fruit juice (orange juice is my favorite) for at least 30 minutes.
For a winter holiday flavor, switch out the pineapple with dried cranberries, and the pecans with walnuts.
You can also replace the applesauce with your favorite baking oil (vegetable oil, canola, etc.).
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