Sweet Potato Bread

Ahh, the beloved Holiday season is once again upon us, as Thanksgiving rears its bountiful head this Thursday. Tis' a season with a cornucopia of pies, rolls, Turkey's, Tofurkey's, green bean casseroles and mashed potatoes. While I am a devout seeker and lover of all of the afforementioned fare, I am especially fond of sweet potatoes.

My dad and I were the only lovers of this tuber in my household growing up, and he'd prepare them artfully baking them  in a casserole pan with butter, brown sugar, and a small mountain of mini-marshmallows. Since no one ate them but my dad and myself, there was no bloodshed as there was between me and my sister when fighting for the  1/2 cup of leftover green bean casserole.

After several years of  practice perfecting my favorite Sweet Potato pie recipe, this year I have done some experimenting with my favorite root veggie for the holiday season, and found a recipe I had used years ago for Sweet Potato Bread. 

There's only so many pies one family can handle, so making a quick bread is a way to keep the festive theme of Thanksgiving foods that can be served with coffee in the afternoon (if you're ever hungry again after the big meal) or with breakfast or brunch.  After a bit of monkeying around and adjusting, I think this recipe turned out really swell.

Sweet Potato Bread

- 3 cups flour ( I used 1 cup High Gluten bread flour and 2 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and it was a great texture, but an AP flour should work just fine)

-3 eggs

-1/2 cup Canola Oil

-1 cup Sweet Potato, cooked until soft, peeled and mashed or pureed. ( canned works)

-1 cup walnuts, chopped

 -1/4 cup apple sauce

-1 1/2 cups brown sugar

-1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger

-1 t. vanilla

-1 t. salt

-1 t. baking soda

-1 t. cinnamon

1 t. cloves

1 t. nutmeg

1/4 t. baking powder

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease  two 9 inch loaf pans  or lined muffin tins. Combine dry ingredients of flour,  salt, baking soda and powder, salt and spices and whisk to combine. In another bowl, combine eggs, applesauce, sugar, oil, sweet potatoes and vanilla, and whisk to combine. Fold wet into dry, when almost combined, fold in walnuts and chopped ginger.

Spoon batter into baking dishes and bake for 20 minutes for muffins,  35-40 minutes for loaf pans, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

 I made these in muffin form this time so I can bring a few to friends and co-workers this week.

 

oh mama.

Fresh out of the oven, with a healthy ( haha) slathering of butter... 

They turned out a beautiful deep orange color, and the warm spices balanced the subtle and earthy flavors of the sweet potatoes and the walnuts. I serve this bread warm, because it's just so scrumptious that way.

This is just one way to switch up some of the dishes you have around the holiday, or just to add another one to your favorites. Because as much as we'd all probably like too, one can only consume so much pie before they' can't take anymore! 

I'm going to try adding some different nuts and maybe some dried fruits next time. 

I enjoy the e-mails from everyone, and always love to hear how your adventures with my recipes turn out, so don't be shy!