Sweet Potato Cornbread
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This Sweet Potato Cornbread recipe is so easy to make, incredibly delicious, and includes sneaky nutrition. It makes a perfect side dish for soups and chilis.
Cornbread is a classic side dish that almost all ages enjoy. Similar to our Make Ahead Breakfast Cake and our Chocolate Sweet Potato Banana Bread, we have snuck a powerhouse ingredient into the batter without altering the flavor: sweet potato!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Sweet potato puree – Microwave or bake a sweet potato, scoop out the flesh, and mash it up. Or, you can buy canned sweet potato puree.
- All-purpose flour – Gluten-free 1:1 baking flour will also work.
How to Make Sweet Potato Corn Bread
Like many baked goods, in this cornbread recipe, you mix the dry ingredients together first and set them aside.
After mixing the wet ingredients, you combine them with the dry ones to create the batter. Stir until combined but don’t over-mix. (Over-mixing will produce denser results.) Spread the batter evenly into a prepared metal baking pan.
Bake that delicious cornbread and confirm that it’s done by checking to see if a toothpick comes out clean from the middle.
Baking Tip
If using a glass baking dish, add a few extra minutes to the baking time.
Recipe FAQs
If you fully cook and puree the sweet potato, you really don’t taste it very much in the cornbread. The best way I can describe it is that it adds a hint of sweetness and fall flavor that you won’t find in a classic cornbread recipe.
It blends in perfectly with the batter and you get some extra nutrition!
Yep! This recipe works fine in either shaped pan. If you use a square pan, cut the cornbread into squares instead of triangles.
If you don’t have a sweet potato on hand, no worries. This recipe will work fine without it. It will bake a little faster so check for doneness around 15 minutes.
How to Freeze Cornbread
Cornbread can be stored in the freezer. Keep in mind that it will get a touch dried out through freezing and thawing, so be sure to serve with butter and honey!
To Freeze For Later: Bake cornbread just until done. Cool completely. Cover the baking dish tightly in a few layers of foil or plastic wrap, pressing as much air out as you can.
To Prepare From Frozen: Thaw on the counter. Warm a slice in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and top with a pat of butter, if desired.
Recipes to Serve With Sweet Potato Cornbread
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Sweet Potato Cornbread
This sweet potato cornbread recipe is so easy to make, yet incredibly delicious. The sweet potato brings fall flavor, additional moisture, and some added nutrition without overpowering the desired, classic cornbread flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk (best if at room temp)
- 1 egg (best if at room temp)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sweet potato puree (flesh of 1 small sweet potato, mashed up)
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (sub: gluten-free 1:1 baking flour)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a metal 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk, egg, brown sugar, sweet potato puree, and butter. Whisk together the ingredients until fully incorporated. If the butter starts to coagulate, that’s ok as long as it’s evenly mixed in throughout the batter.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet. Stir together just until combined but don’t over-mix. (Over-mixing will produce denser results.) Transfer to the baking pan.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
To Freeze For Later: Bake cornbread just until done. Cool completely. Cover the baking dish tightly in a few layers of foil or plastic wrap, pressing as much air out as you can.
To Prepare From Frozen: Thaw on the counter. Warm a slice in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and top with a pat of butter, if desired.
Notes/Tips
If using a glass plan, add a few minutes to the baking time.
Gluten-Free Version: Use 1:1 gluten-free baking flour in place of the all-purpose flour. Bob’s Red Mill is a brand we like for this product.
Can I use squash instead of sweet potato?
Yes! We routinely replace sweet potato with butternut squash in a lot of our recipes. In fact, we wrote a whole post on how to cook, freeze, and use it in recipes: https://thrivinghomeblog.com/how-to-make-butternut-squash-puree-20-ways-to-use-it-in-recipes/
Thanks for asking Virginia. Hope you enjoy the cornbread!
My husband and I both said this was the best cornbread we’ve ever had! He said best bread in general, so so good!
Wow, love to hear this Mikala! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.
Delicious! And no one noticed the sweet potato so that’s a win.
Love those sneaky veggies! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review Elisabeth.
This recipe is wonderful! I’d love to make it as muffins as well but unsure how.
Glad you enjoy it! We haven’t tested this as muffins yet, but I’d say give it a shot at the same oven temp (400). Start checking it at 10 minutes and keep an eye on it until a toothpick comes out clean. I saw one recipe online that says 15-20 minutes but that was in a silicone muffin pan. Metal will bake faster.
I can see putting sweet potato into cornbread. But this recipe looks like it has too much sugar. That much sugar will make it a dessert cornbread rather than a side to go with a meal. I would like to try this recipe but cut back on the sugar. Have you tried that?
Hi Mary! We haven’t tested this specific recipe with less sugar, but I don’t see any problem with cutting back on it.
This recipe is so good! I have made this 3 or 4 times with substitutes each time. I subbed for gluten free flour and also used 1/3 cup of coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. Also, I left out the sweet potato for a few times I have made this and it has still turned out delicious. When I’ve left out the sweet potato, I have needed to add a bit more liquid a tablespoon at a time.
Thank you for taking the time to let others know how your substitutions worked out Nicku. I’m sure others have wondered how it would turn out without sweet potato and we just haven’t tested it!
Delicious & easy!
Yay! Glad to hear it Jan!
Perhaps the best cornbread I’ve ever had, let alone made, in my life!
Wow! So glad you like it Ashley!
I like this recipe I’m going to make it.
Let us know how it turns out for you.
Love reading your recipes
So glad to hear it Susie!
Perfection! And, seriously, I don’t even really like cornbread but I loved this…and so did everyone else in the house! Thanks!!!!!
HA! Having a non-cornbread person love this recipe is a huge success! Thanks for leaving a review Jenika.
This was easy & delicious!
Really glad you enjoyed it, Jan. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
The ingredients include baking powder but the instructions say baking soda. Which one should be used??
Hi Jan! Thanks for catching that. It is baking powder and I am fixing it right now!