OMG, y’all. Stop everything. This is important. I knew I loved cornbread, but I didn’t know I could love it this much. I decided to add some sweet potato mash to my Everyday Cornbread, plus a couple of spices and sour cream for richness and… WHOA. It took everything in me not to eat the entire pan of this Sweet Potato Cornbread.
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This recipe is a hybrid between my Everyday Cornbread and these amazing Sweet Potato Corn Bread Muffins from the New York Times. The NYT’s addition of cinnamon and nutmeg was absolutely spot on and gave the cornbread an amazing aroma. Since I had already bought some sour cream to top my chili, I decided to incorporate that into the batter, like this recipe from Leite’s Culinaria. Neither of those recipes used nearly enough sweet potato for me, though, so I upped mine to 1.5 cups. I didn’t want to waste that lovely sweet potato!
What Does Sweet Potato Cornbread Taste Like?
This cornbread is definitely on the sweeter side as far as cornbread goes, but it also has a good amount of warm, aromatic spices to keep it from being too dessert-like. It pairs well with both sweet and savory flavors. The texture is rich and thick, so one piece will definitely add a lot to your meal!
What to Serve with Sweet Potato Cornbread
The subtle sweetness of this sweet potato cornbread pairs absolutely perfectly with the warm spices of a bowl of chili, pumpkin soup, chorizo stuffed bell peppers, or anything BBQ, like this BBQ Cheddar Baked Chicken, but I also have to say, it’s awesome with coffee. I’ve also been eating it for breakfast with a thick pat of butter and with a fried egg on the side.
How to Store the Leftovers
Make sure you allow the cornbread to cool completely to room temperature before placing the leftover pieces in a resealable container and storing in the refrigerator. This cornbread also freezes quite well! I suggest wrapping each piece in plastic or waxed paper, then storing all of them in an air-tight freezer bag or freezer-safe container. You can thaw them at room temperature or with a quick zap in the microwave.
Sweet Potato Cornbread
Servings 8Ingredients
- 1 lb. sweet potato ($1.56)
- 1.5 cups yellow cornmeal ($0.36)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour ($0.13)
- 1/2 cup sugar ($0.40)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder ($0.12)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg ($0.05)
- 2 large eggs ($0.52)
- 1/2 cup sour cream ($0.47)
- 3/4 cup milk ($0.23)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil for the skillet ($0.02)
Instructions
- Peel the sweet potato and cut it into one-inch cubes. Place the cubes in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil the potatoes until they’re tender and fall apart with pierced with a fork (about ten minutes). Drain the potatoes and set aside.
- Coat the inside of a 10" cast iron skillet with cooking oil. Place the skillet in the oven and begin to preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- In a large bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well mixed.
- Mash the drained sweet potatoes until fairly smooth. Transfer 1.5 cups of the mashed potatoes to a large bowl. Add the sour cream, milk, and 2 Tbsp oil, and whisk until combined. Add the eggs and whisk until combined again.
- Pour the sweet potato mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir the two together just until combined and no dry mix remains on the bottom of the bowl. It’s okay if the mixture is a little lumpy, just be sure not to over mix.
- Carefully take the hot skillet out of the preheated oven and scoop the batter into the skillet. Smooth out the top of the batter until it's even, then return it to the oven. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until the center is puffed, the top is golden brown, and it's slightly cracked around the edges. Remove the cornbread from the oven, cut into eight pieces, and serve (preferably with butter).
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Equipment
- Cast Iron Skillet
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk
- Liquid Measuring Cup
Nutrition
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How to Make Sweet Potato Cornbread – Step by Step Photos
Peel a 1 lb. sweet potato and cut it into one-inch cubes. Place the cubes in a pot, cover them with water, and bring the pot up to a boil over high heat. Let the sweet potatoes boil until they’re soft and fall apart when pierced with a fork (about 10 minutes). Drain the sweet potatoes and set them aside.
Once the sweet potatoes are done boiling, get the skillet ready and begin to preheat the oven. Rub about 1/2 Tbsp of oil inside a 10″ cast iron skillet, place it in the oven, then set it to preheat to 425ºF.
While the potatoes are boiling (or after they’ve drained), combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, stir together 1.5 cups yellow cornmeal, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp nutmeg. Stir them together until they are very well combined.
Mash the sweet potatoes until they’re fairly smooth. Transfer 1.5 cups of the sweet potato mash to a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup sour cream, 3/4 cup milk, 2 large eggs, and 2 Tbsp cooking oil.
Whisk the ingredients together until fairly smooth. You may still have a few small chunks of sweet potato, but that’s okay.
Pour the sweet potato mixture into the bowl with the mixed dry ingredients and stir them together just until mixed. It’s okay if it’s a bit lumpy, just don’t over mix it. The sweet potato cornbread batter will be fairly thick.
Carefully take the preheated skillet out of the oven, scoop the batter into it, then spread it around until it’s smooth on top. Return it to the oven and bake for 22-25 minutes.
Or until it’s puffed in the center, golden brown on top, and cracked around the edges. Cut the sweet potato cornbread into eight pieces and enjoy!
A little melted butter takes sweet potato cornbread to the next level.
Yes. Just yes.
I am so excited to try this and then maybe use it to make a cornbread stuffing! Thank you for posting!
Could you use greek yogurt to substitute the sour cream in this recipe?
I would need to test it with that ingredient to know for sure. Baking can be very finicky, so if the moisture level or fat/protein/sugar level is different it can often times really change the outcome.
I usually use regular plain yogurt (not Greek) in this and it turns out great.
Delicious! Easy! So satisfying for any meal! I doubled the recipe and made some in a cast-iron pan and some in a 9×9 pan. Exceptional! I can imagine how good it would be when crumbled and used as a casserole topping, maybe with a little melted butter added, like a Cracker Barrel recipe that I make. Thanks, Beth! And the kitchen smells so good!
This is a great way for me to use up some pureed sweet potato left over from when my daughter was starting on solid foods. I have a whole ice cube tray of frozen sweet potato that I wasn’t sure how I was going to use up.
Any suggestions on how to make this recipe non-dairy? Think I could substitute soy or almond milk for the milk, but not sure about the sour cream.
I’m not sure, I think I’d need to do a considerable amount of testing to find what makes it work. The chemistry of baking is so precise that when you change one ingredient it can totally throw the entire recipe off.
I don’t use cornmeal or white flour. What could I use instead?
Unfortunately those are the two base ingredients for this recipe, so they can not be replaced. Without them, it won’t be cornbread.
Could I use buttermilk instead of milk in this recipe?
Yes you can! Enjoy!
Can I use canned sweet potato?
Yes Curt I think that would be fine to skip a step there by using canned.
I would like to know if a round pan could be used instead of a cast iron pan? I don’t own casccfffffff
Yes you could use a round cake pan.
Fyi i used a heavier muffin tin filled oretty full to the top and baked for 14 minutes for nice full muffins. I thought 1/2 tsp of nutmeg was a bit much so i maybe used 1/3 tsp freshly ground nutmeg but it was stiil too strong for my taste. Very happy with thd result.
I love this recipe! For simplicity, we use canned pumpkin in place of the baked sweet potato. The perfect accompaniment to my favorite lentil chili recipe. Thanks!!
Also cook them in muffin tins. :)
Yes!
Great swap! Thanks for sharing!
I used cooked, mashed butternut squash and greek yogurt and reduced the eggs to 1. Its so moist and rich. I love this recipe.
Could you omit the sugar from this recipe?
Yes you certainly could. You could use honey instead or a different sugar substitute like monkfruit sweetener.
Can you use Jiffy?
In substitute for which ingredient?
My guess would be for the cornmeal.
I suppose you could, but Jiffy mix is already premade so you wouldn’t need this recipe at all.
This was really good. Apparently you can leave out the eggs completely and it’ll still taste good and be a reasonable texture, because I spaced out and forgot them. I did have to bake it a lot longer, but I don’t know whether that was partly the lack of eggs, or just that I used a 9-inch Pyrex pie plate (non-preheated) instead of something 10-inch, cast-iron, and preheated.
Ha! Whoops! Good to know though.
Beat Cornbread recipe I have ever used!!!
Thank you William!