Sweet Potato Loaf

Having posted two pumpkin recipes this week, now is as good a time as any to tell you that I don't really like pumpkin. I always found that food blog surfing this time of year was a bit annoying because all I'd see was baked goods with pumpkin. No thank you.

However, I made an effort this year to overcome this aversion to pumpkin, and while I'm definitely making significant progress, I'm in no way prepared to indulge in a piece of pumpkin pie. I prefer pumpkin dishes that mask the pumpkin flavor, or just use enough to keep it's presence subtle.

What has any of this got to do with Sweet Potato Loaf? Well, I got excited when I found this recipe and couldn't wait to try it only to find out it tastes just like pumpkin loaf. In fact, I forgot that it wasn't pumpkin. But its redeeming qualities are that it doubles well, freezes well and bakes up perfectly into a very moist loaf. My kids really loved it too, and since 90% of my baking is for them, that makes this recipe a hit. I totally recommend doubling it - which is how I've written the recipe. I mean if you're going to the trouble of cooking and mashing the sweet potato, you may as well get two loaves, right?

Worried about what you're going to do with all this Sweet Potato Loaf? I always slice the whole thing, wrap each slice individually in saran wrap and then put the slices in a large ziploc bag in the freezer. Then you can pull out a slice as you need it, never worrying about it going stale. (A frozen slice can be defrosted in 12 seconds in the microwave.) And you feel like a super-mom when your kids always have homemade baked goods for school. 

Recipe for Sweet Potato Loaf

(adapted from Taste of Home | Fall Baking | 2011)

2 cups of mashed sweet potato (about 3 medium sized 'orange-flesh' sweet potatoes, also known as yams)

4 eggs

1 cup canola oil

2/3 cup water

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 cups sugar

3 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

Preheat the over to 350 degrees F. Spray two 9x5 inch loaf pans generously with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed sweet potato, oil and water, set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Add the sweet potato mixture and stir until just moistened. 

Divide the batter between the loaf pans. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing loaves from their pans onto wire rack, allow to cool completely.