This sweet potato cornbread is incredibly moist, tender and delicious. Roasted sweet potato adds a natural sweetness to this savory side dish.
You’re going to love this sweet potato cornbread recipe. It’s perfect for fall, Thanksgiving and colder days when you’re craving something warm and cozy. This cornbread goes super well with chili, stew, soup, chicken pot pie and other comforting dinners. Or you can enjoy a slice of homemade cornbread for breakfast with a pad of butter and a drizzle of honey!
Featured 5-star reviews:
Want to know what other people thought of this recipe? Check out these 5-star reviews left by our readers:
- "Yum!! This cornbread was delicious. I loved the addition of the sweet potato. I used canned sweet potatoes that I drained well and it worked out great!" - Holly
- "SO good. Super moist and flavorful cornbread. Can't wait to make this again for Thanksgiving!" - Nicole
Looking for more delicious fall recipes? Try our ginger pear muffins or this apple cinnamon baked oatmeal for breakfast.
Craving something sweet? Bake this chocolate chip pecan pie, these gluten free oatmeal raisin cookies, or this maple biscotti. These all make great desserts to bring to a holiday party!
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Why You’ll Love This Brown Sugar Sweet Potato Cornbread
This cornbread is a little on the sweeter side. You’ll want to add some brown sugar to enhance the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes. I added some cinnamon to compliment these flavors and make this dish even more perfect for fall. If you don’t want to use granulated or brown sugar in the recipe, you can use honey or pure maple syrup instead!
How To Roast Sweet Potatoes
This cornbread gets tons of flavor and moisture from roasted sweet potatoes. Roasting your potatoes will bring out the extra sweetness and enhance the overall flavor. That’s why I opt for fresh potatoes over canned ones since the roasting process is key!
Here’s how to roast your potatoes:
- Line a baking sheet with a piece of foil.
- Stab your sweet potatoes with a fork, place them on the foil, and drizzle with a bit of oil.
- Crumple up the foil so your sweet potatoes are wrapped up entirely.
- Place your baking sheet in the oven and roast until the skin gets wrinkled and you can easily poke through the potato with a fork.
- Remove from the oven and let cool before removing the skin.
How To Make Cornbread in a Cast Iron Skillet
I like to make this easy cornbread recipe in a 10” cast iron skillet since it is naturally nonstick! Baking in cast iron gives your cornbread a beautiful outer crust. Plus, this creates a beautiful presentation to share with your guests during the holidays or get-togethers.
If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can bake this cornbread in a casserole dish. Be sure to grease whatever dish you use with cooking spray to help prevent sticking.
Tips & Tricks
- Sweet potatoes: Leave the skin on your sweet potatoes and poke with a fork. Wrap in aluminum foil and drizzle with a little oil. Wrap to enclose the potatoes in the foil and place on a baking sheet. This is my favorite way to roast potatoes and the foil and baking sheet catch any possible drips!
- Cornmeal: I recommend using finely ground cornmeal. If you use a medium grit cornmeal, your cornbread will have crunchy pieces of cornmeal throughout. I used Quaker light cornmeal for this recipe, but any brand will do! If you end up buying the wrong one or you only have a coarse cornmeal, try blending it in a blender to get a finer consistency.
- Canned sweet potatoes: If you opt for canned sweet potatoes or canned yams, be sure to strain all of the liquid from the can. Use a fork to mash your yams before incorporating into the batter.
Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes
- Eggs
- Sour cream or Greek yogurt
- Milk
- Oil
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Corn meal
- All-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Cinnamon
Frequently Asked Questions:
I would not recommend using Jiffy Mix instead of regular cornmeal. I have not tested this substitution.
No, this recipe does not call for buttermilk. If you don't have any milk and you only have buttermilk, this recipe should still work fine!
I have not tested canned sweet potatoes or yams. However, as long as you strain out the liquid, I think canned would work totally fine! Roasted sweet potatoes will have more flavor than canned ones.
This cornbread would work well as muffins! I have not tested this yet, but I would bake at the same temperature and check frequently for doneness. Cornbread can become overbaked quickly! I would start with 10-15 minutes at 400°F. And then check every few minutes or so. The muffin tops should be lightly golden. Overbaking can cause dry and crumbly muffins.
You can make this recipe gluten-free by substituting all-purpose flour for a gluten-free all-purpose flour that is 1:1. I recommend Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour. I have not tested this recipe with any other flour, but I think this one would work.
More Fall Recipes:
- Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Apple Coffee Cake
- Pumpkin Waffles
- Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust
If you make this sweet potato cornbread, be sure to tag #bakedabundance on Instagram. We’d also love it if you would leave a comment below and rate the recipe. We appreciate you!
PrintRecipe
Easy Sweet Potato Cornbread
This sweet potato cornbread is incredibly moist, tender and delicious. Roasted sweet potato adds a natural sweetness to this savory side dish.
- Prep Time: 35
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 60
- Yield: 8-12 1x
- Category: Breads
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 small to medium sweet potatoes, roasted (about 1 cup mashed)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup sour cream or plain greek yogurt
- ¾ cup milk of choice
- ¼ cup neutral oil, I used olive oil
- ¼ cup salted butter, melted
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups fine yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F. Wrap sweet potatoes in foil, drizzle with a touch of oil and roast until you can easily poke them with a fork. Skin will look wrinkled and a knife will effortlessly glide through the sweet potatoes when done. Let cool.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients: eggs, sour cream, milk, oil, and melted butter. Add in the sugars and cooled mashed sweet potatoes and stir to combine.
- Once your wet ingredients are combined, add in the dry ingredients. You can add the dry ingredients to the same bowl. Before stirring, use your measuring spoon to move around the baking powder and mix it into the dry ingredient layer before. This helps distribute the baking powder. The batter will look a little lumpy. Do not overmix.
- Place a 10” cast iron skillet into your oven at 400F. Let the skillet heat up for 5 minutes or so. Before adding your batter to the hot skillet, be sure your skillet is well-oiled or properly seasoned so your cornbread doesn’t stick.
- Carefully pour your batter into the hot skillet and smooth out the top so it's flat. Bake cornbread for 20 to 25 minutes or until a knife comes out with little crumbs. The edges of the cornbread should be lightly golden and the center should have puffed up a bit. If you overbake, your cornbread will not be as moist and could be dry.
- Serve warm with butter or let cool to store in the fridge. I simply covered my cooled cast iron skillet with aluminum foil for easy storage. Cornbread lasts up to 3 days at room temperature or up to a week in the fridge.
Notes
You can substitute 1 cup of canned sweet potatoes or yams for fresh sweet potatoes. Drain liquid and mash. Canned will not have as much flavor or natural sweetness as freshly roasted.
Can use ½ cup of oil or butter instead of ¼ cup of each. I like using both oil and butter, butter for flavor and oil for moistness. I feel that if you use only butter, cornbread may not be as moist but still good!
If you want to reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe, try substituting ¼ cup brown sugar for ¼ cup pure maple syrup or honey. Coconut sugar is another option.
Jan
I am a baker and this bread just doesn't look moist or appealing. I have seen a lot of recipes that use jiffy mix or cornmeal that look very moist. Could it be the picture?
Marley
Hey Jan! Thanks for leaving a question about this recipe. I found this homemade cornbread recipe to be very moist! The addition of sweet potato brings richness and moisture to this cornbread. (It's possible the photo doesn't showcase this to everyone.) I hope you give it a try and let me know what you think! Thank you 🙂
Jenna
I recently made this sweet potato cornbread for our Sunday chili night and it was a hit! Everyone loved this slightly sweet, warm cornbread. You could really taste a hint of cinnamon and it was just so delicious and comforting... and very moist! I might try making this with some leftover canned sweet potato I have in the back of the pantry from Thanksgiving haha!
Marley Braunlich
Thanks for leaving such an awesome review Jenna! I appreciate it 🙂 So glad you guys loved this healthier cornbread recipe with your chili. Sounds delicious!!
Brooke
I'm not usually a big cornbread person my oh my gosh, this recipe is so awesome! The sweet potato adds such a delicious flavor. This paired perfectly with the stew I made for dinner.
Holly
Yum!! This cornbread was delicious. I loved the addition of the sweet potato. I used canned sweet potatoes that I drained well and it worked out great!
Nicole
SO good. Super moist and flavorful cornbread. Can't wait to make this again for Thanksgiving!
Shelby
Such a delicious spin on traditional corn bread. Perfect with Fall soups and stews. Yum!
Marley Braunlich
So glad you loved this sweet potato cornbread Shelby!! Thank you 🙂
C-Los
Can u substitute coconut sugar for the granulated sugar and honey for Brown sugar
Marley Braunlich
Hi there, you should be okay to substitute coconut sugar for both the granulated and brown sugar. I have not used a liquid sweetener like honey or maple syrup instead of either sugar, so I cannot speak to how that may change the recipe. Hope this helped! Thank you and enjoy!