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Purple Sweet Potato Buns
Modeled after Filipino ube buns, these purple sweet potato buns are a delicious breakfast, snack, or even dessert. Ube is a purple yam that originated in Southeast Asia, and purple sweet potatoes are a varietal originally from Central America. Purple sweet potatoes are easier to find in grocery stores in the U.S., most likely between September and April. You can use either ube or purple sweet potato for this recipe, and this article explains more about their slight differences in texture, flavor, and nutrient composition. Note that both contain high levels of anthocyanins, an antioxidant also in blueberries, red cabbage, black rice and other deep purple plants.
Traditional Filipino ube halaya or “jam” also has sugar, coconut milk or condensed milk, and butter, but this filling only has ground cinnamon and vanilla extract, which enhance the sweetness and aromatics already present in the purple sweet potatoes. If you use ube, you may want to add a little sugar to the filling, as ube is less sweet than purple sweet potatoes. With either, you can make halaya using the filling recipes on these blogs: The Woks of Life and Lean Bellas Kitchen.
It’s also worth noting that the sugar in the dough is given as a range, with the lower end of the range being almost unnoticeable and the upper end delivering a more pastry sweetness. If you’d like to convert this recipe to sourdough leavening, here is an FAQ explaining How to Convert Recipes Between Sourdough and Yeast. If you have extra prepped sweet potato, you might also enjoy our recipe for Purple Sweet Potato Sourdough Bread.
Purple Sweet Potato Buns
Purple sweet potato or ube filled milk buns make a delicious and beautiful breakfast, snack, or dessert. The filling is sweet, nutty, and fragrant with hints of vanilla and cinnamon, and the yeast-leavened dough is simple and delicious.
Ingredients
Sweet Potato/Ube Paste
Dough
Instructions
Sweet Potato/Ube Prep
Dough
Shopping List
High Protein Bread Flour
Breadtopia’s Choice Kitchen Scale
$18.00Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls — Set of 3
$39.99JK Adams Dowel Rolling Pin
$18.00USA Pan Cookie Sheet
Bench Knife by Dexter — Resin Handle
$14.50Parchment Paper Sheets — 200 Sheets
$19.00Purple Sweet Potato Buns