Sweet Potato Cornbread
Gluten Free Living – 2015
Sweet Potato Cornbread is mouthwatering. I love a good cornbread recipe, and I’ve not been shy in trying out new ones frequently. I actually prefer sweet cornbreads to regular. And, I love recipes that incorporate good things like pumpkin, sweet potatoes, bacon, jalapenos, green chiles, sausage or other great stuff like that. Yes, I’m a cornbread lover and I’m not ashamed to say it!
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But every now and then I get burned and a recipe turns out so awful I have to start completely over. That happened when I made this recipe from Paula Deen’s Test Kitchen. I expected a lot more from this recipe than it delivered. After cooking the recipe for 45 minutes it was still not done in the middle. The shredded sweet potato didn’t cook in that length of time either. The pieces of sweet potato were still hard and chewy! Even my husband said the cornbread wasn’t sweet enough. On top of that, the cornbread just really didn’t have a very good flavor. Yikes.
So I started from scratch. I liked the idea of making a sweet potato cornbread. But I wanted a moist cornbread that was significantly sweeter and not overwhelmed with salt. I also pre-cooked the sweet potato and added mashed sweet potato to the mix. Now, if you don’t fancy sweet potatoes, this cornbread isn’t for you!
I love sweet potatoes in ANYTHING so my palate will enjoy this probably more than most people. Sweet Potato Cornbread has a lovely, savory, sweet potato taste. Because I used honey instead of sugar those deep flavors are also incorporated. I decided to make this recipe as healthy as I could by substituting gluten free flour for regular flour. I also used a stone-ground cornmeal which is not as finely ground as many commercial cornmeals and the taste is superb.
While I tinkered with a basic cornbread recipe, I was afraid to do too much this first go around. I didn’t want to overwhelm the recipe with lots of stuff. I think it could probably use some spices as well as some savory additions like onions or leeks, but that’s for another time and another place.
If you are like me and enjoy delicious cornbread recipes, let me recommend: Gluten Free Honey Cornbread, Southern-Style Cornbread, Molasses Cornbread, Boston Market Cornbread, Mexican Cornbread, Honey Buttermilk Cornbread, Sweet Cornbread, Broccoli Bread, or Bacon Jalapeno Cornbread. All are wonderful ways to serve cornbread.
So I present to you, Sweet Potato Cornbread. It’s a tasty alternative to regular cornbread and a cornbread that is decidedly different yet worth trying out. If you are not gluten intolerant you can use regular flour in the recipe. As I state in the recipe card below, honey is not as sweet as sugar. So if you’re trying to keep this recipe healthier you may want to increase the honey and make it slightly sweeter. I don’t think I would increase the amount of sweetener if you use plain sugar. You may also want to include a tablespoon of molasses in the batter or sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar on top before baking for a richer, fuller flavor.
No matter how you make it, Sweet Potato Cornbread is terrific for breakfast or dinner!

Sweet Potato Cornbread combines sweet potatoes and cornbread for a savory and tasty treat.

This cornbread is great for breakfast or dinner.

I served Sweet Potato Cornbread with King Ranch Chicken and Beef and Barley Soup.
Here’s what I did.

I used these ingredients.
However, when I made this recipe in January 2015 gluten free flour options were very limited. I would NOT recommend using Pamela’s gluten free flour. My personal preference is Cup4Cup.

Place cornmeal, gluten free flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir ingredients to combine.

Cut in cold, unsalted butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Add eggs, sour cream, honey and buttermilk.

Bake a sweet potato and mash with a fork.

Add sweet potato to other ingredients and stir well to combine.

Spray an 8×12″ glass baking dish with cooking spray. Pour sweet potato mixture into prepared baking dish. If desired sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar over top of the cornbread if you want a sweeter cornbread.
I would also recommend smoothing the top.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Tent cornbread with foil to prevent over browning. Bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until cornbread springs back when touching with finger.

Allow cornbread to cool before cutting and serving.

Sweet Potato Cornbread works really well with soups on cold, winter nights.

This southern-style cornbread recipe will really hit the spot.

Sweet Potato Cornbread is wonderful for breakfast or dinner.
Here’s the recipe.
SWEET POTATO CORNBREAD
(My own concoction)

Sweet Potato Cornbread
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- 1 pastry blender
- 1 small baking dish or roasting pan to bake the sweet potato
- 1 8x12" glass baking dish
- 1 spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup Wayside Inn stone-ground cornmeal or regular cornmeal, not cornmeal mix
- 1 cup gluten free flour (see note below)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar or honey
- 3 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter cold
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk or soured milk
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 large sweet potato cooked and mashed, (about 1 to 1 ½ cups mashed sweet potato)
Instructions
- Measure cornmeal, gluten free flour, baking powder and salt and place in large mixing bowl.
- Stir to combine.
- Add cold butter and blend with a pastry blender until mixture becomes like coarse meal.
- Add eggs, buttermilk, sour cream, honey and mashed sweet potato and stir to combine but just until moistened.
- Do not overmix.
- Spread batter into a greased 8x12” glass baking dish.
- Bake at 425° for about 15 minutes.
- Cover loosely with foil to prevent over-browning.
- Bake an additional 15-20 minutes or when cornbread springs back when touched with finger.
- Cool before cutting into squares.
Notes
© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen
Nutrition
- 1 cup [url href=”http://www.wayside.org/” target=”_blank” title=”wayside inn stone ground cornmeal”]Wayside Inn stone-ground cornmeal [/url](or regular cornmeal, not cornmeal mix)
- 1 cup [url href=”http://www.pamelasproducts.com/products/baking-mixes/pamelas-baking-pancake-mix/” target=”_blank” title=”pamela’s baking and pancake mix”]Pamela’s [/url]Gluten Free Baking and Pancake Mix
- ½ cup honey or sugar
- 3 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 4 tbsp. cold [url href=”http://www.landolakes.com/” target=”_blank” title=”land o’ lakes unsalted butter”]Land O’ Lakes[/url] unsalted butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 large sweet potato, cooked and mashed (about 1 to 1 ½ cups mashed sweet potato)
- Measure cornmeal, gluten free flour, baking powder and salt and place in large mixing bowl.
- Stir to combine.
- Add cold butter and blend with a pastry blender until mixture becomes like coarse meal.
- Add eggs, buttermilk, sour cream, honey and mashed sweet potato and stir to combine but just until moistened.
- Do not overmix.
- Spread batter into a greased 8×12” glass baking dish.
- Bake at 425° for about 15 minutes.
- Cover loosely with foil to prevent over-browning.
- Bake an additional 15-20 minutes or when cornbread springs back when touched with finger.
- Cool before cutting into squares.

While Sweet Potato Cornbread has a different taste than many cornbreads, I really enjoyed the addition of sweet potatoes to cornbread.

Sweet Potato Cornbread is a healthier, clean eating version than many cornbread recipes.

Every bite is delicious. 🙂
You may also enjoy these delicious recipes!




Sweet Potato Cornbread
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- 1 pastry blender
- 1 small baking dish or roasting pan to bake the sweet potato
- 1 8×12" glass baking dish
- 1 spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup Wayside Inn stone-ground cornmeal or regular cornmeal, not cornmeal mix
- 1 cup gluten free flour (see note below)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar or honey
- 3 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter cold
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk or soured milk
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 large sweet potato cooked and mashed, (about 1 to 1 ½ cups mashed sweet potato)
Instructions
- Measure cornmeal, gluten free flour, baking powder and salt and place in large mixing bowl.
- Stir to combine.
- Add cold butter and blend with a pastry blender until mixture becomes like coarse meal.
- Add eggs, buttermilk, sour cream, honey and mashed sweet potato and stir to combine but just until moistened.
- Do not overmix.
- Spread batter into a greased 8×12” glass baking dish.
- Bake at 425° for about 15 minutes.
- Cover loosely with foil to prevent over-browning.
- Bake an additional 15-20 minutes or when cornbread springs back when touched with finger.
- Cool before cutting into squares.