Sweet Potato Bread with Walnuts and Cranberries
Last year I lent this recipe to the lifestyle site Flaura Wellness, so many of you missed seeing it. And with the growth of Amalgam Kitchen I have decided to post it here on the site for you to enjoy this year, because it is just so darn good. Didn’t want you to miss out on it. In the past I have asked myself, “Oh what to do with the left over cranberries which were not used in Thanksgiving’s cranberry sauce?” I usually have a bag or two of fresh or frozen berries left over. This bread hits the spot for anyone who enjoys a quick bread. It is easy and is perfect for the holidays with all the festive spices. The fresh, raw cranberries add a bit of tartness, (but if you can’t find any fresh or frozen ones, feel free to use dried cranberries, although because they are dried, their sugar content is higher. I tend to stay away from them). If you do have the dried ones on hand, cut the measurement in half. This bread goes really well smothered with vegan butter and a cup of tea or coffee to start the day or as a late afternoon snack or dessert with a cup of hot cocoa. It’s wholesome, packed with nutrition, filled with vitamins, minerals and protein. Beta carotene from the sweet potatoes, magnesium from the walnuts and protein from the eggs and almond meal. The flavor is heightened with many of the usual culprits, including nutmeg, cinnamon, ground ginger powder and vanilla, we have all come to love this time of the year. This sweet potato bread gets it’s sweetness from a little bit of coconut sugar, monk fruit sweetener and chicory root which is a prebiotic and full of fiber, making this treat a guilt-free situation. If you can’t find the chicory root, replace it with its equivalent measurement of coconut sugar. The crunchy crumble topping takes it to the next level. This hearty and tasty bread is paleo and lectin free. If you are vegan, supplement the eggs with flax eggs, instruction below.
Makes 1- 9 x 5 inch loaf/ Prep time 25 minutes/ bake time 50 minutes/ total time 1 hour 15 minutes
Gather
2 cups/272 grams Paleo flour (I use King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill)
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.84 g baking powder (preferably aluminum free)
1 teaspoon/ 5.69 g baking soda
1/2 teaspoon / 2.84 g ground ginger powder
3 teaspoons / 12.6 g ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon / 2.84 g ground nutmeg
1/4 cup/32 g chicory root powder (or if unavailable, coconut sugar)
1/2 cup / 64 g monk fruit sweetener
3 eggs (or flax eggs, 1 tablespoon flax meal mixed with 3 tablespoons warm water, allow to sit for 10 minutes)
1 cup/237 ml neutral vegetable oil (used 1/2 cup avocado oil and 1/2 cup olive oil)
1/4 cup/32 g coconut sugar
2 teaspoons / 9.86 ml vanilla extract
1 cup/128 g garnet yams, peeled and grated
1 1/4 cups/ 140 grams fresh cranberries
3/4 cup/108 g toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
For the crumble topping
4 tablespoons toasted walnuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup/32 g paleo flour
3 tablespoons / 42.52 coconut sugar
2 tablespoons /28.3 g vegan butter, cold and cut into small cubes
Make
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare the bread pan with oil and line it with parchment.
Begin making the bread batter. In a medium bowl, add together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, chicory root powder and monk fruit sweetener. Mix well.
In a separate medium bowl whisk the eggs or flax eggs, oil, coconut sugar and vanilla extract until well blended.
Pour the egg and oil mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated but don’t over mix. Add the the grated yams, cranberries and walnuts. Stir until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
For the crumble topping
In a small bowl combine the finely chopped walnuts, flour, and coconut sugar. Add the cold vegan butter pieces and using your hands, incorporate the butter pieces into the flour mixture until it resembles a course crumbly meal.
Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter in a single layer. Place the loaf pan on the middle rack in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes. Check the loaf at 45 minutes to determine whether it will need another 5-10 minutes. Mine did because my loaf pan was cast iron which is a thicker gauge than an aluminum or stainless steel pan. Poke the loaf with a sharp knife to see if it comes out clean.
Remove the sweet potato bread and place on a cooling rack and allow to cool down about 30 minutes before removing it from the loaf pan.
Enjoy.
Recipe developed by Anna Getty of Amalgam Kitchen.
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