Sweet Potato Bread

This is the Sweet Potato Bread.  Love it!

I made butternut squash bread a while ago.  It was a huge recipe- made three loaves.  I froze two and we made our way through it.  I have pictures of the beginning dough.  It was so huge that it could not be fully done in my mixer so I switched back to kneading it myself on the counter.  It was really good bread.  Slightly sweet.  But alas, I never got a picture. I wanted to share the recipe though.

Butternut Squash Bread
HUGE recipe - makes three loaves.
Adapted from this recipe here.  Printable for my version found here.

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon instant yeast
1/2 cup to one cup water, warm but not hot
2 tablespoons sugar
2-1/2 cups mashed cooked buttercup or butternut squash
2 cups 2% milk
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 teaspoons salt
13 cups all-purpose flour

In a very large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, squash, milk, brown sugar, butter, eggs and salt and about 6 cups flour. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Turn onto a floured surface that has the remaining flour on it. Knead together until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/4 hours.

This is what it looked like when I turned it out onto the counter. What a shaggy mess!

This is what it looked like after I kneaded, and kneaded, and kneaded.

Fold dough over on itself.  This will degas it effectively. Divide into three portions; shape into loaves. Place in three greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire rack.

After the first rise.

Then, I found a recipe for sweet potato bread and with a few baked potato leftovers, decided I needed to make it.  This recipe makes one loaf.  A lot less work because it can be done in the mixer but I have to say I liked the end product better.  I don't really like the hint of sweetness in the other one.  It's okay for breakfast but not for things like sandwiches.  This sweet potato one (pictured at top), I find more versatile.  You can interchange sweet potato and butternut squash in these recipes.


Sweet Potato Bread
Printable recipe can be found here.

1 C warm water
2 tablespoons of honey
1 T of yeast
1 C whole wheat flour
3 C bread flour
1 C pureed sweet potatoes
3/4 tsp. salt

Combine warm water, honey and yeast in the base of your mixer. Mix in the sweet potato. Add in the flour, 1 C at a time. Mix on speed 1 or 2 for 2-3 minutes until dough begins to solidify and becomes pliable and smooth.  Add additional flour as needed.  When dough is smooth, place in a bowl with a little bit of oil.  Swirl it around so there is a thin sheen of oil on top. This will prevent it from drying out as it rises.
Place the dough ball in a lightly greased bowl and cover.  Allow the dough to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.  Fold the dough over onto itself a few times and then shape the dough into a loaf.
Place the loaf in a lightly greased 9 x 5 bread pan.  Cover and allow the dough to rise again until it's one inch above the top of the bread pan. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, until lightly browned and the bread reads 180F on a meat thermometer. Remove from the bread pan to cool and place on cooling rack. Wait to slice it until the bread is cooled.