Last weekend I bought a giant bag of organic sweet potatoes to make a corned beef hash (which turned out unbelievably delicious by the way). After I'd made the hash I found myself in a predicament. I don't tend to eat a lot of starchy foods-which meant the remainder of the sweet potatoes would likely go bad before consumption-and I absolutely cannot tolerate wasting food. Lucky for me, I happened upon an interesting recipe on proteinpow.com that used sweet potato as a base for pizza crust. Little did I know that this weekend would turn into a sweet potato baking extravaganza!
Now, let's just talk about the concept of clean baking for a second. It's imperative that you realize that although clean baking is relatively "healthy" and aims to combine whole foods and minimally processed ingredients, that does not mean it can be eaten in unlimited quantities. Yes, coconut and almond flour are much more digestive and body composition friendly and will be processed by your body much more easily than conventional flour, but they are very nutrient dense. This means the calories add up FAST. So yes, do some clean baking, learn how to substitute ingredients and definitely enjoy the heck out of it. Just don't eat an entire batch of sweet potato protein muffins in one day...by yourself...like I did.
My clean baking cupboard!
Let me begin by saying that two of these recipes were inspired by some pretty amazing bloggers whose recipes are fun, innovative and healthy: TGIpaleo and Protein Pow(d)er. You can certainly follow the original recipes or experiment with your own version, which is what I did. In case you are lost and aren't sure what products to use, here are some of my favorite clean/paleo baking products:
Sweet Potato Pizza
I started off my weekend with a grain free pizza inspired by this recipe from Protein Pow. I changed mine up a bit because I wanted to make it a personal pizza with a relatively thin crust. I topped it with a tablespoon of Trader Joe's pizza sauce, some thinly sliced fontina and Kerrygold dubliner, caramelized onions, sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil. It was amazing!
Ingredients:
1/4 cup cooked sweet potato flesh
1/4 cup almond flour
1 egg
Tbsp coconut flour
tsp coconut oil
tsp baking soda
pinch salt
Directions:
Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until well blended.
Transfer mixture to a *well oiled* 9 inch pie pan or comparable baking dish.
Moisten fingers with water and form mixture into a thin layer on the bottom of the pan.
Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, checking often until crust is at desired doneness.
Top with desired ingredients and return to over for a few minutes.
Chef's notes:
This is one serving, which is why I made it in a 9 inch pie tin. You could certainly double the mixture and make it in a pizza pan.
Because there isn't much to it, the crust isn't very "doughy" so you've got to be careful when removing it from the pan.
It is imperative that the pan is very well oiled (I used olive oil spray) to prevent sticking.
I cut the pizza into little squares which made it easier to eat without falling apart.
When all else fails, just eat it out of the pan :).
Sweet Potato Protein Muffins
These delicious muffins were Saturday's experiment. I had seen this recipe from TGIpaleo last month and couldn't wait to try it out. I wanted them to be a little on the lighter side so I added some protein powder in place of part of the almond flour and they were fantastic. I even got enthusiastic approval from my 5 year old, which is typically a tough thing to do!
Ingredients:
3/4 cup cooked sweet potato flesh
1/4 cup vanilla protein powder
1/4 cup almond flour
2 Tbsp flax meal
2 eggs
tsp baking soda
tsp cinnamon
tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
big handful dried fruit (I used dried cranberries and raisins since that's what I had on hand.)
Directions:
Blend all ingredients together well in a food processor or with a hand blender.
Pour mixture into a well oiled muffin tin, 1/2 full for mini muffins and 3/4 full for larger muffins.
Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until tops are golden.
Chef's notes:
This mixture made 12 mini muffins. If you wanted a larger batch or larger muffins I would double the recipe and perhaps add some baking time.
I would advise checking back OFTEN. I have overcooked muffins so many times that I am like a hawk over the oven now.
These were super moist and especially delicious with some maple almond butter on top!
Sweet Potato Cinnamon Raisin Bread
This recipe was inspired by my last trip to Trader Joe's in which I eyed a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread and longed for a slice topped with butter. I pretty much only eat grains on the rare occasion that I go out to dinner, and in that case fresh baked bread is fair game. I've never (successfully) baked a grain free loaf of bread so I figured it was time. I had some mashed sweet potato leftover, so what the heck?!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup cooked sweet potato flesh
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
2 Tbsp coconut flour
2 Tbsp flax meal
3 eggs
Tbsp honey
Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Tbsp cinnamon
tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
Big ol' handful of raisins (nuts would probably be good, too!)
Directions:
Combine wet ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well blended.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, adding to the food processor and pulsing in well.
Add raisins to mixture and pour into a well oiled loaf pan (8x4 works well).
Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out mostly clean.
Chef's notes:
If you want a bigger loaf, perhaps try doubling the recipe and using a 9x5 loaf pan, but i can't guarantee cooking time or how it will rise.
This loaf is dense and sort of squat (no yeast) but absolutely delicious and moist like a pumpkin bread.
It is especially tasty with a sliver of Kerrygold Irish butter on top!
For me, cooking is a labor love. Sometimes experiments turn out well and sometimes they end up as bird food. But no matter what, it's always a fun learning experience that you can share with the people you love. Isaac truly enjoyed helping me bake this weekend, and I am pretty excited about the new sweet potato based recipes in my arsenal.
Eat and be happy!
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