Sweet Potato Bread with Sucanat & Sourdough

When I lived in Washington, DC, my husband and I used to stop at a cafe every now and then on our way to work and they had an absolutely delicious sweet potato bread. This is my attempt at recreating that treat with the addition of Sucanat and sourdough starter discard. 

I used fresh sweet potatoes (peeled, boiled, and mashed) for the puree because I have a lot of sweet potatoes in the pantry but of course feel free to use a canned version or swap the sweet potato for pumpkin as well. I also include specific measurements for the spices but if you have pumpkin pie spice and would prefer to use that instead, go ahead and swap it out.

Enjoy! 

Makes 1 loaf (9”x5” loaf pan)

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

• 3/4 cup (120 g) Sucanat

• 425 g sweet potato puree (or 1 15 oz. can)

• 1 egg, lightly whisked

• 1/3 cup (90 g) sourdough starter

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour

• 1 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp. cardamom

• 1/4 tsp. allspice

• 1/4 tsp. cloves

• 1/4 tsp. ginger

• 1 tsp. salt

• 2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C) and lightly grease a 9”x5” loaf pan with butter or oil.

2. Melt the butter. Note: I like to keep the butter on the stove a little past when it’s melted so that it becomes slightly brown and nutty but you do not need to do this.

3. Grind the Sucanat in a coffee/spice grinder.

4. Mix together the melted butter, Sucanat, and sweet potato puree. Add in the egg, sourdough starter, and vanilla extract.

5. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, spices, salt, baking powder, and baking soda).

6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

7. Spoon into the greased loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.