Sweet Potato Sage Artisan Bread
Published: December 12, 2022 | Updated: April 17, 2024.
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NOTE: This recipe has been updated to include an additional step in which the dough is cold proofed in the refrigerator prior to baking.
This simple no-knead Sweet Potato Sage Artisan Bread is perfectly soft and flavourful with a tender crumb. We love it served warm with a generous amount of good quality olive oil or toasted with lots of melty butter!
Have you ever tried baking bread with potato? The sweet potato in this recipe produces a moist, almost fluffy texture and results in a richer, heartier loaf. Bonus? Like my other no-knead artisan bread recipes, it’s also a super simple bake that requires just 20 minutes of hands-on prep time to make.
How to Make Sweet Potato Sage Artisan Bread in 6 steps
Prep mashed sweet potato and let cool.
Mix the dough.
Cover and let it rise until it has doubled in size.
Shape your dough and dust with flour.
Cover and proof the dough in the fridge for 1 hour or as long as 24 hours.
Turn dough out onto parchment, score and bake.
Baking Schedule
Making this sweet potato sage artisan bread is a two-day process where the bread is mixed and prepared on day one, cold proofed in the fridge overnight, then baked on day two.
This is what it looks like:
Saturday morning: Prepare mashed sweet potato, mix dough, cover and let rise.
Saturday afternoon or evening: Shape dough, cover and put it in the fridge.
Sunday morning, afternoon or evening: Remove dough from the fridge, turn it out, score it and bake!
5 More Savoury Bread Recipes to Make
No-Knead Jalapeño Cheddar Artisan Bread
Easy Small Batch Ciabatta Rolls
No-Knead Rosemary Parmesan Artisan Bread
Rosemary & Roasted Garlic Artisan Bread
With a touch of sweetness and a lovely orange hue, this savoury seasonally inspired Sweet Potato Sage loaf is chewy, wonderfully herby and just So. Very. Good.
Sweet Potato Sage Artisan Bread
Makes 1 loaf; prep time 18.5 to 19 hours.
You can find additional notes on steps, baking tools and tips for beginners here.
Ingredients:
1¼ cups (300 grams) water, room temperature (at or near 70°F/21°C)
1¼ teaspoons (3.75 grams) active dry yeast
3 cups (390 grams) bread or all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1½ tablespoons (5 grams) fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher or fine sea salt
1 cup mashed sweet potato, cooled (*see notes)
1 tablespoon (14 grams) extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions:
Add the yeast to the water and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sage and salt. Add mashed sweet potato and continue to mix until coated and well distributed, breaking it up with a fork if needed.
Add yeast, water and olive oil to the bowl and use a rubber spatula to mix everything together until well incorporated. The dough will appear sticky and stringy and there should still be a little flour around the edges of the bowl.
Cover and let rise somewhere warm (see note below) until it has doubled in size, about 8-10 hours.
Once the dough has doubled in volume, use your hands (or a dough scraper if you have one) to pull the dough out onto a floured surface. With floured hands, gently fold the dough into itself several times until a soft, flour-covered ball is formed. Seam side up, lift and place it into a flour dusted proofing bowl like this one. Dust with flour, cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or as long as 24 hours. You can even leave it for as long as 48 hours at this point if you’re not able to bake it right away.
When you're ready to bake your bread, preheat oven to 450ºF (232ºC) with a Dutch oven or covered baking vessel inside the oven.
Uncover then invert the bowl to turn the dough out onto parchment paper seam side down. If needed, gently turn it with your hands and nudge it into the shape of a loaf. Score the top with a razor blade or the tip of a sharp knife with a design of your choosing. This will allow steam to escape while it’s baking.
Once the oven is preheated, remove the Dutch oven from the oven and transfer the dough, still on the parchment, into the Dutch oven. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for 15-20 minutes more. Your bread will be done once the top is browned, and it sounds hollow when you tap the top.
Using parchment edges, lift bread from Dutch oven and transfer it to a wire cooling rack to let cool for up to an hour before slicing.
Notes:
Sweet potato: For mashed sweet potato, wash sweet potato(es) then prick with a fork 3 or 4 times and bake in a 425°F (218ºC) oven for 30 to 40 minutes until pierced easily with a fork. Alternatively, sweet potatoes can be steamed in a microwave for 4-5 minutes. After checking for doneness, continue to cook in 30-second increments as needed until cooked through. Let cool completely then remove peel and mash before adding to recipe.
Seasoning: If you don’t have sage, rosemary and thyme are delicious alternatives. Adding ground cinnamon in place of the sage will produce a slightly sweeter tasting loaf. Dried herbs may also be used if fresh herbs are not available.
Rise time and temperature: An ambient rise temperature somewhere between ~70º-75º/20º-23ºC is ideal but even high 60's/18º-19ºC should work if the dough is kept away from drafts. Note that rise times can vary based on temperature, environment and ingredients used. You will know your loaf is ready to bake when it has doubled in size, and this can take a minimum of 2-3 hours or as long as a full day. With a little experimentation, you will find the time frame that works best for you.
Storage: This loaf will store well covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or frozen in a well-sealed plastic bag for up to 1 month.
