Quick bread makes a festive, fun, and sweet treat to bring to the holiday party, a gift to your loved ones, or something to enjoy with your family. This recipe features nutritious sweet potato, fresh cranberries, rosemary, and toasted pecans to give it a nice flavor. Why not make this sweet treat this holiday season?
This quick sweet potato bread makes a festive treat to bring to a holiday party or give as a gift. It features sweet potato and fresh cranberries, as well as candied rosemary and toasted pecans to add a lovely pop of flavor. Share it with family and friends!
Course Baked Goods
Cuisine baked goods
Author Christy Quirk, MS, RD, LDN
Ingredients
12ozsweet potatoroasted
1tspkosher salt
3/4teaspoonground cinnamon
1/4teaspoonground nutmeg
1/4tspground cardamom
1 1/2teaspoonbaking powder
1/2teaspoonbaking soda
1cupcanola oil
2/3cupgranulated sugar
1/3cupbrown sugar, packed
3large eggs
1 2/4cupall-purpose flour
8ozfresh cranberries
4ozpieces pecan
4sprigs rosemary
Instructions
Roast sweet potato at 400 degrees F, until tender. Cool, peel and set aside.
Place fresh rosemary sprigs, in simple syrup, for at least 10 minutes or overnight. Remove sprigs from syrup, coat in granulated sugar and dry for at least 10 minutes. *Dry these in your pre-heated oven and they’ll break up nicely as you prepare the pans of batter.
4 sprigs rosemary
Lightly toast the pecans and set aside.
Mash the sweet potato in a large bowl, then add kosher salt, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cardamom, baking soda, baking powder, canola oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar and eggs. Whisk till well combined.
1 tsp kosher salt, 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cardamom, 1 cup canola oil, 2/3 cup granulated sugar, 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed, 3 large eggs
Gently stir in the flour, then 3 oz of the pecans and the fresh cranberries.
1 2/4 cup all-purpose flour
Pour batter into greased loaf pans, then top with the remaining pecans and the candied rosemary (strip the stems and discard these).
Bake at 350 degrees F. ~35 minutes for mini loaves and ~1h5m for 8×4 loaves.
If you’ve followed along this year, you probably noticed we have some recurring themes with our cooking demonstrations. We love plant-forward meals that are easy to prepare and, of course, friendly on the budget.
Today I want to tie in eco-friendly or sustainable. You may think, hey, we’re already in that neighborhood, but we want to take that one step further. We’ve encouraged
mostly plants
local foods
in season foods
In addition, there are more specific food choices we can make, like, lentils, which belong to the pulse family. They are nitrogen fixers.
So not only are they easy, tasty protein, but they improve the soil in which they’re grown. Another choice is mushrooms; these can grow on logs, and they can grow on compost. They require very little water and very little space. So not only are they tasty, but they give us lots of vitamins and minerals. There are others on this list of eco-friendly foods, but we’ll focus today on those two. They are the stars of this burger.
You may notice that the recipe tells you to portion these burgers and bake them in the oven, but I like a little extra texture, so I’ve chosen to sear them on the cast iron skillet and then cook them until they’re the right firm.
Snacks are so fun, aren’t they!? The best snacks are balanced, containing a carbohydrate plus some protein and/or fat. Snacks can also be a strategic way to get in more fruits and vegetables. Make these muffins as a delicious mid-morning or afternoon pick-me-up. You’ll be satisfying your sweet tooth and nourishing yourself with a healthy, balanced snack. If you want to hear more about the Well Balanced Way to snack, check out our workshop on Balanced Snack Secrets.
Cooking with Chef Christy
In this episode of cooking with Chef Christy, I bake a delicious muffin that works as a wonderful, balanced snack. While it is not your normal super light and fluffy muffin, it IS very nutritious and fun!
These muffins make the best Well Balanced Snack! They contain carbs, fat, protein, fruits and veggies. making them balanced, nutritous and delicious. It's a great way to use fresh zucchini and strawberries which are abundant in the summer months.
Course Snack
Cuisine baked goods
Keyword dairy free, gluten free
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 25 minutesminutes
Resting Time 10 minutesminutes
Total Time 45 minutesminutes
Servings 5
Author Well Balanced Nutrition
Equipment
food processor (helpful but not required)
silicone muffin cups
cookie/muffin scoop
muffin tin
mixing bowls (2)
measuring cups
Ingredients
1cupoatsground (or 3/4 cup oat flour) gluten-free if necessary
1zucchini (small)grated and dried (makes about 1 cup grated)
1 1/2cupstrawberrieschopped
2eggs
1/4cupalmond butteror alternative
2tspvanilla extract
1tspcinnamon
1tspbaking soda
1/2tspsalt
1/4cupcocoa powderunsweetened
2Tbscoconut sugar
1/4cupdark chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Grind the oats in a blender to create a fine flour (or purchase oat flour).
1 cup oats
Grate the zucchini, then squeeze out the excess water in cheesecloth (or chop in a mini food processor to save time).
1 zucchini (small)
Chop the strawberries (use a food processor to save time).
1 1/2 cup strawberries
Spray muffin tins with baking oil or use silicone liners.
Prepare the wet ingredients:In a large bowl: combine the strawberries, nut butter, eggs, and vanilla and stir to combine.
1 1/2 cup strawberries, 2 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 cup almond butter
Prepare the dry ingredients: In a separate bowl: whisk the oat flour, cinnamon, baking soda, sea salt, cocoa powder, and coconut sugar
