Banana-Sweet Potato Bread
January 6th, 2012
I made this bread twice in one day. I made it twice because the first time I accidentally made this bread pretty much fat free. And really low in sugar.
I talked about this disaster yesterday.
Maybe it was my inner mind telling my body not to add that oil and all the white sugar. Or maybe I just didn’t have enough coffee this morning. Either way, the first round was a low fat-low sugar loaf of bread! (If you want to get your skinny on, I will leave a note on those substitutions.)
The second batch was more what I had in mind. Naturally more tender (because of the fat) and naturally a bit sweeter (because of the extra sugar.) But- I might add, still lower in fat and sugar than my normal banana bread!!
I wanted to use sweet potato puree and banana, both naturally sweet and nutritious and bake them into a bread that is a bit healthier than the norm, while still being something that my kids will like.
It turned out sweet, a little spiced and very, very moist because of the fruit and veg. puree, plus it made the whole house smell great!
Banana Sweet Potato Bread, makes 1 loaf
-1 cup banana
-1 cup sweet potato puree
-1 ¼ cup sugar
-½ cup oil
-2 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 ¾ cups flour
-1 ½ tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp baking soda
-½ tsp salt
-½ tsp ginger
-1/4 cup milk
* For very low fat bread- you can add just 1 cup sugar and no oil and it will still rise nicely with a very moist texture- it will just be a little, um, rubbery.
1) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with baking spray.
2) In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat together the banana and sweet potato until smooth and fluffy.
3) Add the sugar and oil and beat together until fluffy.
4) Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy.
5) In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.
6) Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and combine into a batter. Add the milk and mix in.
7) Pour the batter into the loaf pan.
8) Bake the bread for 1 hour 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
9) Slice and Enjoy!
i LOVE this…and have a sweet potato in the fridge that needs to be used up. AND a ripe banana that I have no intention of using in a smoothie :)
5:58 am on January 6th, 2012
Either version looks amazing! What a GREAT idea to use sweet potatoes!
6:37 am on January 6th, 2012
I made sweet potato bread a long time ago and thought why not combine them!
8:14 am on January 6th, 2012
I think it sounds like you should make a batch of banana sweet potato bread…
8:15 am on January 6th, 2012
Yusss! I love how it puffs up at the top. Pretty! Sweet potato zucchini bread in one of my favs so I know I’ll love this banana version. Mmmm.
8:15 am on January 6th, 2012
ooohhh! that sounds like a great variation to try this summer with all the zucchini!
10:31 am on January 6th, 2012
Looks delish Heather!! Yummmmmm. Happy Friday!!
10:47 am on January 6th, 2012
You too Heather!!
11:11 am on January 6th, 2012
Fat or no fat, sugar or no sugar, this bread sounds fantastic. What a great idea to add sweet potato puree to the mix.
11:20 am on January 6th, 2012
I have never tried this but you’ve inspired me to give a go the next time I have some ripe bananas!!!
11:50 am on January 6th, 2012
Thanks Dara!
12:46 pm on January 6th, 2012
Oh Good Nancy!!
12:46 pm on January 6th, 2012
Looks divine. I love quick breads ALOT.
6:44 pm on January 6th, 2012
As soon as you mentioned this recipe the other day I knew it would be oh so tempting! Love SP in baked goods too :)
6:53 am on January 7th, 2012
Made the bread yesterday. Didn’t have any sweet potato puree, so used pumpkin. Didn’t have any ground ginger so used pumpkin spice. Used 1 c. of sugar and not quite 1/2 c of oil. Turned out great!! Delicious!!
9:38 am on January 7th, 2012
Awesome! I think this bread is so forgiving and really open to all kinds of substitutions. So glad that it worked out for you!
9:45 am on January 7th, 2012
I make banana bread all the time, Emeril has a great one I have tweaked a bit, but never thought to add sweet potatoes, have two on my counter that need to be used, I think I will be making it tomorrow. For a way to reduce your fat, try using applesauce. I have done this many times in banana bread and pumpkin breakfast cookies, for the bread use use maybe a1/3 cup applesauce and 1T oil, for the cookies I omit the oil completely. I balance the texture more than measure, makes it impossible to accurately share recipes, my family and friends hate me for it! :)
5:38 pm on January 8th, 2012
Heather, the sweet potatoes sound like a great addition to banana bread!
1:58 pm on January 9th, 2012
did I miss something? picture #6 looks like milk is being mixed in. also, do you think recipe would work for muffins
12:43 pm on January 11th, 2012
phew. good eye Sheila. That was the kind of week I was having when I wrote that! Good catch- I fixed it. But the great news is that people have been making it and it has turned out nicely without the milk (all the veg and fruit puree) but the milk at the end will make it even more tender. Sorry everyone.
1:25 pm on January 11th, 2012
wait. wait. is this THE bread that you made yourself during your pregnancy?? because I’ve been waiting for that one!!! i can almost taste this one through my monitor!
10:14 pm on January 17th, 2012
No way- that was the full fat, full sugar bread!!
6:45 am on January 18th, 2012
That looks so beautiful and amazingly moist!
5:30 am on January 19th, 2012
Thanks Aggie!
7:24 am on January 19th, 2012
Interesting post, this was really useful. thanks!
2:48 am on January 20th, 2012
I found this recipe looking for something to make with a bunch load of sweet potatoes I had other than brownies.
Mine did turn out as dark as yours though and I used baking powder instead of soda and it didn’t rise well, mu potatoes were much lighter though, maybe I should have baked them instead of boiled?
6:18 pm on January 23rd, 2012
So sorry to hear this Tiara- You definitely can NOT substitute baking powder for baking soda, so that would explain the rising problem. As long as you didn’t have too much water in your potatoes, it should have been ok to boil them? For this I used canned organic (unsweetened) sweet potatoes, but in the past I have usually boiled mine? I think the dark color came from the spices?
7:11 pm on January 23rd, 2012
[...] Sweet Potato Bread Recipe adapted from Heather Christo Makes 1 [...]
8:14 am on April 10th, 2012
I have this banana bread currently baking in the oven! I hope it turns out well…From the looks of it, my pan seems slightly smaller than yours…I hope it bakes all the way through! I used 1.5 cups banana (I had too many and needed to use them up) and 0.5 cup of butternut squash puree, because I did not have sweet potato! Anyways – I also wanted to say that I just recently found your blog and I love it. You have such lovely recipes and I love the tone of the overall blog! <3
7:15 am on April 16th, 2012
Thank you so much Zosla! I think it is fine to be flexible with the recipe. If anything- just let it bake longer. If it starts to get too brown, just tent a piece of foil over the top of the bread until it is baked all of the way through.
7:24 am on April 16th, 2012
applesauce is always a good sub for oil!
12:58 pm on February 18th, 2013
Why is my sweet potatoe bread falling? Your versions looks so delicious, I dont want to be defeated. It calls for condensed milk and *Bisquit* mix. Made it twice and fell.
11:49 am on February 25th, 2013
wait? where did the condensed milk and bisquit mix come in?
1:44 pm on February 25th, 2013