Sweet Potato Cornbread

Course Bread, Breakfast, Side Dish

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword cornbread-recipes, sweet-potato-cornbread, sweet-potato-recipes

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Total Time 50

Servings servings

Calories 317kcal

1 large sweet potato baked and puréed
2 cups plain yellow cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2-1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
4 large eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted plus additional 1/2 tablespoon to grease the skillet
1 Tbsp turbinado sugar optional

To Bake the Sweet Potato: Preheat oven to 425°F. Scrub skin of large sweet potato. Place on a pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until fork tender. Cool for 20 minutes, then peel and puree. Let cool.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 10-inch skillet or similar. Set aside.
In a large bowl, use a whisk to sift together cornmeal, flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together mashed sweet potato, milk, sour cream and eggs. Stir to combine, then whisk in melted butter.
Add the sweet potato mixture to the dry ingredients, stir until fully moistened.
Pour the cornbread batter evenly into the prepared skillet, Sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar, if using.
Bake for 40-45 minutes just until a toothpick inserted into the center comes back clean and the top is lightly golden brown.
Serve with butter, drizzled with maple syrup or honey.

- Cast Iron - I highly recommend making this sweet potato cornbread in a cast iron skillet for even baking. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, you can bake this in any similar size oven safe skillet or baking dish.

- Make the Sweet Potatoes in Advance - The sweet potato puree can be prepared in advance and chilled until you're ready to make the cornbread. When doing so, bring it to room temperature before adding it to the remaining ingredients in the batter.

- Canned Sweet Potatoes - You could adapt this recipe using canned sweet potatoes. Make sure they aren't seasoned with anything extra, as they often include sweeteners and seasonings, unlike fresh sweet potatoes.

- Spices - Pumpkin pie spice doesn't taste like pumpkin. It's a combination of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and allspice. It enhances the flavor of sweet potatoes incredibly well, and I love having another use for it apart from pumpkin pie. Rest assured, you can use ground cinnamon in place of pumpkin pie spice, with no other adjustments.

- Taste and Adjust the Spicy Flavor - You can adjust the amount of spices in the batter. Begin with 1/2 teaspoon, then taste it, adding more to suit your taste.

- How to Serve Sweet Potato Cornbread - Serve sweet potato cornbread fresh from the oven slathered with pats of butter and a drizzle of honey or pure maple syrup at any meal.