Purple Sweet Potato Sourdough Sandwich Loaf
This Purple Sweet Potato Sourdough Recipe uses mashed Stokes purple sweet potatoes for a soft sandwich loaf with a pale pink color and a rich, slightly sweet flavor. Make this purple sweet potato bread with active sourdough starter or as a sourdough discard bread with a small amount of commercial yeast – you won’t taste the difference.
Read on to learn all about purple sweet potatoes and tips and tricks for this recipe. Or just grab your sourdough starter, hit the Jump to Recipe button, and let’s make a purple sweet potato sandwich bread!
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Ingredients
This key ingredient in this purple sweet potato bread recipe is the purple sweet potato. Stokes purple sweet potatoes have a purple skin and purple flesh. You’re not alone if you get confused about the difference between purple sweet potatoes and ube. Spoiler: the only thing they share in common is their color!
Otherwise I use a combination of bread flour and whole wheat flour, my sourdough discard and a touch of commercial yeast, and some maple syrup for sweetness. You can definitely make this with active sourdough starter if you prefer.
Purple sweet potatoes
Purple sweet potatoes are slightly drier than the more common orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, but you can use them in many of the same ways. If you’re looking for purple sweet potatoes recipes, try making purple sweet potatoes loaded with white beans or purple sweet potato pancakes aka latkes.
Can’t get enough of the color purple? Check out these ube crinkle cookies, my purple cow milk bread (go Ephs!), or some purple cocktails like the Water Lily, made with creme de violette, or my lavender gimlet, made with Empress 1908 gin.
Please see the recipe card below for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations and substitutions
- Use orange-fleshed or yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes, though you won’t get the same pink color to your sweet potato sourdough bread. You also may need to adjust the water content in your bread.
Recipe tips and tricks
Roast your purple sweet potato until you can pierce it easily with a fork. I usually do this in a 425 degree Fahrenheit oven for one to one and a half hours, depending on the size of your purple sweet potato. If you have a big sweet potato, you can freeze extra for future sweet potato bread loaves, or make mashed purple sweet potato with banana.
Let the baked sweet potatoes cool, and then peel. They can be a little warmer than room temperature, but you don’t want them so hot that they’ll kill the yeast.
I use a 100% starter with equal amounts of water and flour in a small volume levain. The amount of water or flour you will need will vary based on your levain, your sweet potato, the humidity in your kitchen, etc. Please consider the recipe as a guide and not law.
You want to end up with a sticky ball of dough at the end of mixing.
You can shape your purple sweet potato sourdough bread in any way that makes you happy. I’m jealous of all of those pretty sourdough boules.
I bake bread in order to have an easy-to-slice loaf of bread for sandwiches for my family, so I often make my low hydration bread in loaf pans. And I love the Emile Henry long covered baker.
Recipe FAQs
I have acquired the belief, true or not, that you shouldn’t add salt to bread until well after the process has started for fear of direct salt effect on the yeast and bacteria (that whole osmosis and cell wall thing). This is probably overkill, but it is something I almost always do.
If we are not going to eat your sourdough within a few days of baking, slice the bread and put the slices in a freezer bag in the freezer to extend the life of the loaf.
I love these sourdough apple muffins and this sourdough apple cake. If you want more ideas, the crackers in King Arthur’s list of sourdough discard recipes have been my favorite.
Related bread recipes
Check out the Ugly Duckling Bakery bread recipes for other breads for sandwiches like:
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-heart 💜💜💜💜💜 rating in the recipe card below. Let me know how much you loved it, or any problems you had, in the comments section further down.
Recipe
Purple Sweet Potato Sourdough
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200 grams) mashed purple sweet potato
- 1 cup (125 grams) whole wheat flour
- 2 cup (375 grams) bread flour plus more as necessary
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast optional
- 127 grams levain (sourdough starter) 100% hydration
- ½ cup (120 grams) lukewarm water plus more as necessary
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon salt
- butter or oil for greasing, if using a loaf pan
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the sweet potato, flours, yeast (if using), levain/starter, water, and maple syrup, initially with a spoon or spatula and then by hand. The mixture should be somewhat sticky, so add small amounts of flour or water as needed. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 20 to 30 minutes.1 cup (200 grams) mashed purple sweet potato, 1 cup (125 grams) whole wheat flour, 2 cup (375 grams) bread flour, 2 teaspoons instant yeast, 127 grams levain (sourdough starter), ½ cup (120 grams) lukewarm water, 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- Add the salt to the bowl and knead using a stand mixer or your hands until the dough is smooth and elastic.1 teaspoon salt
- Form the bread dough into a ball and lightly oil the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in a warm location until it has doubled in size – about an hour and a half to two hours – the microwave or a 85 to 90°F oven works well here.
- Shape and let rise until again doubled in size – how long will depend on whether you were using a well-fed or un-fed starter and/or the amount of commercial yeast.butter or oil for greasing, if using a loaf pan
- Preheat the oven to 375°F at least thirty minutes before baking. Bake for about 30 minutes. When done, the internal temperature of the loaf should be 190 to 195°F, and it will sound hollow when the bottom of the loaf is thumped.
- Let cool for at least one hour before cutting.
Notes
Nutrition
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