This easy Vegan Sweet Potato Bread is made without eggs or butter. It is also gluten free, sweetly spiced and studded with dark chocolate chips. Perfect if you have leftover sweet potato.
Mashed sweet potato binds the mixture of this bread instead of eggs. This gives the bread a dense texture, but it’s also super moist. Feel free to get creative with the mix-ins too.
Does sweet potato bread contain gluten?
This sweet potato bread recipe is gluten free thanks to buckwheat flour. Buckwheat flour is made from ground buckwheat and it naturally does not contain gluten. It makes a great wholesome alternative to wheat flour.
However, if you don’t need to avoid gluten, you can use all-purpose flour instead of buckwheat flour. Whole wheat flour could be used with the benefit of some additional fiber. I also enjoy spelt flour, which contains gluten but can be easier to digest for some people compared to wheat flours.
Ingredients for vegan sweet potato bread
- Sweet potato: Sweet potato is the star ingredient. It adds natural sweetness and keeps the bread moist.
- Coconut oil: Coconut oil replaces butter to keep the sweet potato bread vegan and dairy free.
- Raw sugar: I use raw sugar to sweeten the bread. Other granulated sugars should also work.
- Apple cider vinegar: Vinegar reacts with the baking soda to give the bread a bit of lift. You can use white vinegar instead if that’s what you have at home.
- Buckwheat flour: I use buckwheat flour in this bread to keep it gluten free. However, you can use all purpose flour as a substitute if you don’t need the bread to be gluten free.
- Cinnamon and allspice: These warm spices work perfectly with the sweet potato. Pumpkin pie spice mix also works well as a substitute.
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla pairs well with the sweet potato and warm spices. I like pure vanilla extract best, rather than essence.
- Baking powder: Baking powder gives the bread some lift.
- Baking soda: Baking soda, also known as bicarbonate of soda or bi carb soda, reacts with the vinegar to help give the bread extra lift.
- Salt: I always add some salt to enhance the flavors of the bread.
- Dark chocolate: I like to chop dark chocolate into chunks to mix into the bread. Chocolate chips also work well.
What else can I mix into this sweet potato bread?
- Walnuts: Making this sweet potato bread with walnuts instead of chocolate chips would be a tasty way to keep the sugar content down. Or, you could mix some walnuts into the batter in addition to the chocolate.
- Pecans: I love the slightly sweet flavor of pecan nuts. They would work perfectly as an addition to this sweet potato bread along with the cinnamon and allspice.
- White chocolate chips: For a sweeter indulgence, white chocolate chips would work nicely. You could even do a mixture of white and dark chocolate chips for something different.
- Ground ginger: For a gingerbread vibe, you could add a teaspoon of ground ginger to the sweet potato bread mixture. A pinch of nutmeg would also be lovely.
How to store vegan sweet potato bread
This vegan sweet potato bread is best stored in the refrigerator. This is because it contains cooked potato and no added preservatives.
The bread also freezes really well. For easy of defrosting, I recommend freezing the bread in slices. I separate each slice with some baking paper before freezing. That way, you can simply defrost a slice in a microwave or in the oven when you feel like something sweet.
More vegan baking recipes
- Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Fudge Cake
- Almond Olive Oil Shortbread Cookies
- Buckwheat Jam Thumbprint Cookies
- Small Batch Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
You can find more ideas on the Baking Recipes page.
Vegan Sweet Potato Bread with Chocolate Chips Recipe
Serves
10 slices
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
55 mins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups / 340 g mashed sweet potato (see Note 1)
- 1/3 cup / 80 ml / 70 g coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup / 100 g raw sugar
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml / 60 g water
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup / 120 g buckwheat flour (see Note 4)
- 3/4 tsp fine salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 3.5 oz / 100 g dark chocolate, cut into chunks
Method
- Preheat your oven to 160°C fan-forced / 180°C / 350°F and line a 4 x 8 inch / 10 x 20 cm loaf tin with baking paper.
- Mix the mashed sweet potato, coconut oil, sugar, water, vinegar and vanilla in a bowl until combined. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the chocolate, and fold together until just combined. Fold through half of the chocolate.
- Spoon the mixture into the lined tin, spreading it evenly with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle over the remaining chocolate pieces and press them down slightly into the mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
- Cool slightly in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before cutting into slices.
Notes
- Sweet potato – 1.7 lb / 750 g raw weight sweet potato should give enough cooked flesh for this recipe. You can cook the sweet potato in a microwave or in the oven (see the instructions below), then mash the flesh to measure out for the recipe.
- Microwaving your sweet potato – Prick the potatoes all over with a fork, place on a microwave safe plate and microwave for about 20 minutes or until soft, flipping the potatoes over half way.
- Baking sweet potato in the oven – Prick the potatoes all over with a fork, place on a baking tray and bake in a 180°C fan-forced / 200°C / 400°F oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until soft.
- Flour – You can use all purpose flour instead of buckwheat flour if you don’t need the bread to be gluten free. I highly recommend weighing your flour in grams on a food scale for best results. This is because cup measures are notoriously unreliable when measuring out flour.
- Storage – Store the bread in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 5 days, or freeze it. To freeze, I slice the bread and separate each slice with some baking paper. That way, you can defrost single slices as needed.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving size: 1 slice (made with 70% cocoa dark chocolate)
- Energy: 229 Calories / 958 Kilojoules
- Total Fat: 11.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 8.1 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 28.8 g
- Dietary Fiber: 3.1 g
- Sugars: 14.6 g
- Protein: 2.9 g
- Sodium: 245 mg
- Potassium: 3 mg
Cannot have apple cider vinegar or any vinegar.
Would lemon juice work?
For sure, lemon juice can be used instead of vinegar.