Soft Sweet Potato Bread with Honey (Yeast Recipe) (2024)

Sweet potato bread might just be the softest bread you'll ever make. You probably won't taste them in the bread, but the result is the burnt orange color and the incredibly soft texture.

This is not a quick bread, which is similar to pumpkin bread. Instead, there are several risings for this bread, so it's best to reserve most of the day to make it, although the hands-on work is minimal.

by Susan Pridmore

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Homemade bread made from scratch is some of the best bread you'll ever eat. This is especially true for yeasted bread, IMHO. It was my favorite thing to bake in culinary school, and it's still something I love to do when the weather gets cold.

Soft breads are crowd-pleasers, and this bread, thanks to the sweet potato added to the dough, is incredibly soft. These yeast breads sweet potato rolls have that same pillowy softness. These oatmeal dinner rolls, made with a little molasses, are also a wonderful soft roll.

If making yeast bread is new to you, I have lots of details about each step so that your bread will be magical.

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

• Perfect for sandwiches or for slathering on some butter.
• Super soft.
• No fancy dough shaping is required.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.

📝 Instructions Overview

Detailed instructions for making this sweet potato bread are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!

Step 1

Bake the sweet potato. Cook the sweet potato in the microwave until softened enough to mash. If you don't have a microwave oven, bake in the oven or toaster oven.

Scoop the meat of the sweet potato out and thoroughly mash it.

Step 2

Make the sponge (dough starter). Whisk together all of the ingredients for the sponge in a large bowl until a batter forms. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

Step 3

Ferment. Whisk together the flour, milk powder, and yeast in a small bowl. Sprinkle all of it over the sponge without whisking or stirring it. Cover the bowl containing the sponge again and place the bowl in a warm area to ferment for 2 hours. This step builds a lot of flavor into the bread.

Step 4

Make the dough. Scrape the sponge and any dry ingredients not absorbed into the bowl of a standing mixer. Add the butter and mashed sweet potato, and mix at a low speed using the dough hook until a rough ball forms. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to sit for 20 minutes.

Step 5

First rising. Add the salt and knead at medium speed with the dough hook until the dough becomes smooth and shiny. Scrape the dough into a clean, lightly oiled large bowl. Cover the dough with plastic, place the bowl in a warm place free of drafts, and allow the dough to rise until it doubles in size (about 1 ½ - 2 hours).

Step 6

Folding and second rising. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and smooth it into a rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds, like a business letter. Turn the dough 90˚, and repeat. This builds structure into the dough. Return the dough to the bowl, cover again with plastic, and allow it to double again in size (about 1 ½ - 2 hours).

Step 7

Folding and third rising. Scrape the dough again onto a lightly floured surface and smooth it into a rectangle. Fold the dough in thirds one final time. tuck the ends under the dough to form a loaf, and place it in a well-buttered loaf pan. Lightly cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise a final time for about 1 hour. It should rise slightly above the rim of the loaf pan.

Step 8

Bake. Bake until the bread reaches 190 - 200˚F with the probe of an instant-read thermometer. Unmold onto a cooling rack or other wire rack, and cool before eating.

🎯 Why This Recipe Works

• The fabulous flavor is built by fermenting a sponge, multiple risings, and dry milk powder.
• A soft texture is created by the mashed sweet potato.
• Excellent bread structure comes from the folding.

👩‍🍳 Instant Yeast to Active Dry Yeast Conversion

This recipe calls for Instant Yeast. If you only have Active Dry Yeast, you can use it instead on a 1:1 ratio. No adjustments in the amounts are necessary because of the long rise times.

Active Dry Yeast has a slower start to its activation than Instant Yeast, but it catches up on a 2 - 3 hour rise. this recipe calls for resting the sponge, resting the dough before adding the salt, and 3 separate rises. So the Active Dry Yeast will catch up.

👩‍🍳 Is Rapid Rise Yeast the Same as Instant Yeast?

Rapid Rise Yeast has the same initial activating speed as Instant Yeast, but it doesn't have the same staying power. For bread requiring an overnight rise in the refrigerator, such as these Refrigerator Orange Rolls my great-grandmother made, do not use Rapid Rise Yeast. You won't get much rise out of the dough the following day.

👩‍🍳 Can I use Milk instead of Dry Milk Powder?

Yes. To do this, replace the ½ cup + 1 tablespoon of warm water for the sponge with the same amount of low-fat milk or whole milk. But it must be scalded and cooled before adding it to the sponge.

Pour the milk into a small saucepan, and warm over medium heat. Once tiny bubbles appear around the pan or the temperature of the milk reaches 180-185˚F, remove the pan from the heat and cool it to lukewarm before adding it to the sponge. If the scalded milk is too hot when it's added to the sponge it will kill the yeast.

🏔️ Making This Recipe at High Altitude

Baking at high altitudes presents challenges from the increased dryness of the air and lower air pressure. The dryness affects the finished texture and the lower air pressure requires less leavener amounts. Otherwise, the dough, or batter in the case of cakes, can rise too fast and collapse onto itself.

Here are the changes I made at 7100 feet.

• For the sponge, reduce the flour to 3.4 ounces and increase the water to ½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons.
• For the flour mixture, adjust the flour to 5.3 ounces and reduce the instant yeast amount to ½ teaspoon. Increase the butter to 2 tablespoons.
• Increase the baking time 5 additional minutes.