The rain was pouring outside. I was snuggled up in a blanket eating moist and tender bread and it all just felt right. The bread has sweet potatoes in it which means it is healthy right? In the mixed up rules of my mind it is always healthy if it has a fruit or veggie in it. I know you are thinking, “um, what about apple pie?” Well, I will tell you that apple pie is more of a side dish or snack than a dessert because it has apples of course. Desserts are the things where nothing in it has any redeemable nutritional value (though sometimes you’ll catch me telling you that at least a dessert is dark chocolate so it is healthy). I think this all stems from a childhood delusion where I was convinced that Ovaltine was healthy. My world was shattered when my husband pointed to the ingredient list on the can. I digress. Back to the bread. I love this bread. A lot of sweet potato bread recipes are quick breads (like banana bread). This one is different. It is like a really moist roll. My kids also think it is awesome because they get to eat orange bread. And hey, I think that is pretty awesome too!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Ready In: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Yield: 1 large loaf
Ingredients
2 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast
1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato
1/3 cup warm milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups flour
1 egg + 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the yeast, sweet potato, milk, butter, egg, brown sugar and salt. Mix it until it is well combined.
2. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time until a nice, soft dough forms.
3. Knead the dough for 2 minutes or so until is smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise about 1 hour.
4. Divide the risen dough into thirds. Roll out each third into a long snake or rope (about 18 inches long). Lay the 3 ropes next to each other on a lightly greased baking sheet. One one end of the rope, pinch the 3 strands together and begin to braid. When you’ve braided the whole thing, pinch the remaining ends together.
5. Cover and let rise another 30 minutes or so. Brush the braided dough with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water).
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
Love the bread! Have made it for friends and my husband and I love it. Have a loaf rising in my kitchen right now!
I live this bread. It’s slightly sweet and tasty. I made it a month ago and am making it for chicken sandwiches for my granddaughter tonight. If you think that the sweet potato tastes is not for you, think again.
Has anyone tried this with gluten free flour? Were you successful? Gluten free flour isn’t cheap and I want to try this but I don’t want to risk it
I want to say its Bob’s red mill brand has a 1 to 1 gluten free flour. No alterations are necessary for the rest of the recipe, just switch the all purpose flour for the 1 to 1 flour.. all the reviews I’ve seen on different recipes that have used that turn out great
I made this bread according to the directions and it came out delicious! Gave a piece to my sister-in-law, and she sent me a text the next day saying a loaf of this bread is all she wants for her birthday!!!
Just the recipe I had been wanting to make. Mine took longer to bake thought. At 25 min it was a bit too doughy. I did end up using 4 c flour so that could be part of it. Either way it was pouring outside so I took it as a sign
I had to use at least 4 1/2 cups. Did anyone else? Came out just like the pic! It’s very very similar to a Challah bread. Thanks for the recipe Rachel.
yeah i used like 4’ish but I was generous on the sweet potato hehe
I made this yesterday. It was so tasty! My daughter liked it so much.
Thanks. I love your post, it really good and interesting.
Wow, this looks amazing. I've only just recently stumbled across your article and its amazing!!!
GOOD ,it must be very delicious,love it