I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately. Now that my youngest has started solids, I've been glued to the counter blending, mixing, mashing. This is not a baby food recipe. I promise.
It just happened to come about after I made an overly ambitious batch of mashed sweet potatoes for my little one.
I have no idea why I felt compelled to mash five pounds of sweet potatoes, I guess it's because they hold a very sweet spot in my heart. Just thinking back to the sweet potato pies and sweet potato custards I used to eat growing up makes me smile. Now, I can't remember the last time I ordered regular fries at a restaurant, I always opt for sweet potato. One of my favorite neighborhood restaurants serves a hearty sweet potato stew. I'm a bit besotted.
Prepared savory or sweet, I can't get enough of the hearty comforting texture.
Sweet potato or bust!
So with some of my extra mashed sweet potatoes, I decided to make bread. If you ask me, sweet potatoes take the prize in a sweet bread. Similar to pumpkin bread, the flavor is so much richer with sweet potatoes. This bread is what would happen if a sweet potato pie married a biscuit. Oh, and did I mention it's pretty darn healthy too?
Here's what you'll need: 1 ½ cups flour
1 cup coconut palm sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon of sea salt
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons buttermilk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potatoes
1 cup chopped pistachios
½ cup dark chocolate chips (optional)
Here's what to do: Preheat oven to 350°F then oil (coconut oil works great!) an 8x8 round pan and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Blend in the oil, milk and eggs.
Make sure your batter is fully blended before adding the sweet potatoes, ginger, pistachios, and chocolate chips.
Mix until uniform and pour into your oiled pan.
Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool about 1 hour.
I dare you not to fall in love!