Purple Sweet Potato Buns

When I posted my ube buns to Instagram, I didn’t expect so many of you wanted the recipe. I made a few variations to test out which would be the most accessible.

Originally, I made the buns with purple ube powder. But it can be difficult to find fresh ube, or even ube powder. I’ve decided to make these Purple Sweet Potato Buns instead.

FIRST, WHAT IS UBE?

Ube is a purple yam that is commonly found in the Philippines.

There are many Filipino desserts that contain the purple yam such as:

• ube halaya (jam)
• ube cake
• halo-halo

WHERE TO FIND UBE?

It is very difficult to find fresh ube purple yam in North America since most “purple yam” found in the grocery stores are actually purple sweet potato.

You may be able to find frozen purple yam, ube powder or ube extract in Asian and/or Filipino supermarkets. Ube extract tends to have added purple food colouring. 

IS UBE THE SAME AS OKINAWAN PURPLE SWEET POTATO?

No, they’re commonly mistaken for each other, but they are actually from 2 different plants.

Okinawan purple sweet potatoes are from the morning glory family. 

Ube has a brown exterior with a pinkish/purple interior and is grown on a vine.

Okinawan purple sweet potatoes have a beige exterior with a violet interior and are.

ALTERNATIVES YOU CAN USE

For simplicity of this recipe, you can use fresh purple sweet potato if you can find it in absence of fresh ube.

Or, you can even use regular orange sweet potato. (Obviously, orange sweet potato will yield an orange-coloured bun). 

[If you have access to ube powder, frozen ube, or ube extract, then you can use that, but you’ll need to make adjustments to the recipe.]

Note: Depending on which type of sweet potato/yam you use, you will notice a difference in moisture content. 

Regular/orange sweet potato and purple sweet potato have a higher moisture content than Okinawan purple sweet potato, which tends to be drier and starchier.

For all intents and purposes, I used only Okinawan purple sweet potato for this recipe with no powders or extracts.

HOW TO COOK PURPLE SWEET POTATO

MICROWAVE:

By far the easiest and fastest way to do this is to cut the sweet potato in half, place it into a microwave-safe bowl.

Add about ¼ C of water to the bowl and cover with a lid.

Microwave on high power for 5-6 minutes, until the sweet potato is soft and mashable. Mash with a fork until it’s smooth.

STEAM:

Alternatively, you can place the sweet potato on a steaming rack over simmering water, cover with a lid and steam for 30 minutes, until softened. Mash with a fork until smooth.

BOIL:

Cut the sweet potato into cubes. 

Fill a large pot with water, bring to a boil, and cook the sweet potato for about 30 minutes, until soft. Again, mash with a fork until smooth.

Once cooked, the purple sweet potato takes on a darker and deeper hue.

HOW TO MAKE PURPLE SWEET POTATO BUNS

Regardless of which method you use to cook the purple sweet potato, you want a consistency of soft, mashed potato.

If the mashed sweet potato is dry, add a little water to help moisten the mixture. 

While the mashed sweet potato is still warm, add in the granulated sugar and oil. 

Heat the milk up to just lukewarm and add in the yeast. Give it a stir and leave it for a few minutes until bubbly.

Next, add all the ingredients, including the mashed purple sweet potato to a stand mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook and knead until the dough comes together. Check to see if the dough is dry — if it is, add in a little more milk (about a 1 teaspoon) at a time. 

You may need to adjust for the moisture content in the mashed sweet potato and the amount of liquid to add to the dough. If the dough seems dry, add a little more liquid. Conversely, if the seems wet, add a little more flour until you attain a slightly tacky (not too sticky) dough.

Continue kneading until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. 

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it double in size in a warm location. As this dough is slightly heavier than regular dough, it may take a bit longer to double in size.

Once doubled in size, punch down the dough.

Divide and shape the dough into 12 even balls.

Place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Cover and proof until slightly puffy.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until the buns reach an internal temperature of 190F. Midway through baking, cover the tops of the buns with aluminium foil to prevent excessive browning. 

NATURALLY PURPLE-HUED

These Purple Sweet Potato Buns are soft, fluffy and naturally purple. The purple sweet potato not only provides colour, but it also adds moisture, (fibre!) and an earthy sweet flavour to the buns.

If you use ube extract, it will give the buns an even more vibrant purple colour.

Experiment and play around with these buns. Try a different variety of sweet potato and you’ll get a different colour. See the photo below! 

That’s the fun of baking! 🙂 

OTHER BUN RECIPES

If you enjoyed these Purple Sweet Potato Buns, you may also like my:

Matcha Yuzu Hot Cross Buns

Braided Pork Floss Green Onion Buns

Steamed Red Bean Paste Buns

Let me know if you try out this recipe for my Purple Sweet Potato Buns. Tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment/rating below.

Print Pin

5 from 7 votes

Purple Sweet Potato Buns

All-natural soft and fluffy violet-hued buns made with purple sweet potato.

Course Breakfast, Side Dish

Cuisine Asian

Keyword buns, purple sweet potato, purple yam, ube, yam

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 16 minutes

Resting Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 31 minutes

Servings 12

Author Michelle | Sift & Simmer

Ingredients

• 155 g cooked mashed purple sweet potato/yam
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 3 Tbsp avocado oil or unsalted butter
• 185 ml whole milk warm
• 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
• 370 g all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• pinch of salt

Instructions

Cook the purple sweet potato:

Microwave:

• Cut the sweet potato in half, place it into a microwave-safe bowl.
• Add about ¼ C of water to the bowl and cover with a lid.
• Microwave on high power for 5-6 minutes, until the sweet potato is soft and mashable. Mash with a fork until it's smooth.

OR Steam:

• Place the sweet potato on a steaming rack over simmering water, cover with a lid and steam for 30 minutes, until softened. Mash with a fork until smooth.

OR Boil:

• Cut the sweet potato into cubes.
• Fill a large pot with water, bring to a boil, and cook the sweet potato for about 30 minutes, until soft. Again, mash with a fork until smooth.
• If the mashed sweet potato is dry, add a little water to help moisten the mixture.
• While the mashed sweet potato is still warm, add in the granulated sugar and oil/or butter and mix together until incorporated.

Make the dough:

• Heat up the milk (in the microwave) until just lukewarm and add in the yeast. Give it a stir and leave it for a few minutes until it becomes foamy.
• Next, to a stand mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook, add in the flour, egg, salt, mashed sweet potato, milk and yeast mixture. Knead until the dough comes together. Check to see if the dough is dry -- if it is, add in a little more milk (about a 1 teaspoon) at a time.
• You may need to adjust for the moisture content in the mashed sweet potato and the amount of liquid to add to the dough. If the dough seems dry, add a little more liquid. Conversely, if the seems wet, add a little more flour until you attain a slightly tacky (not sticky) dough.
• Continue kneading until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
• Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it double in size in a warm location. As this dough is slightly heavier than regular dough, it may take a bit longer to double in size.
• Once doubled in size, punch down the dough.
• Divide and shape the dough into 12 even balls.
• Place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet (I used a 9" by 12" baking sheet).
• Cover and leave to proof until slightly puffy.
• Towards to end of the proofing time, preheat oven to 375°F.
• Bake for 14-16 minutes at 375°F, or until the buns reach an internal temperature of 190°F. Cover the tops of the buns with aluminium foil about halfway through the baking time to prevent excessive browning.
• Remove from the oven and let cool on a cooling rack.
• Store in an air-tight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. Or freeze for up to 3 months.