Not Your Mother's Rum Balls!

My mother was renowned for her homemade sweets. One of her most popular holiday confections was Bourbon Balls, made with crushed vanilla wafer cookies, corn syrup, confectioner's sugar, and a lot of other ingredients which are not in my kitchen! In her memory, I've come up with my healthier version, and invite you to try these sweet treats with your own favorite alcoholic flavoring. The photo above shows them ready for my holiday buffet, along with some chocolate peppermint bark I also made.

Spiked Chocolate Balls
Recipe type: Candy Treat
Cuisine: Gluten Free, Vegetarian
Makes: About 2 dozen
NOTE: Ingredients in red type are detailed on the "Ingredients" page of this blog

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 c raw hulled sunflower seeds
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 c almond flour
2 T coconut oil, softened
1/4 c coconut palm sugar
1/4 t salt
1/4 c alcoholic beverage*
Coating suggestions:  powdered sugar, sweetened cocoa powder, finely chopped almonds (about 2 T)

* Use your choice: rum, bourbon, scotch, creme de menthe, coffee/orange or other liqueur, etc.

DIRECTIONS:
Put all ingredients except the coating into a food processor. Process until sunflower seeds are chopped into small pieces and the mixture sticks together. Remove to a covered container and refrigerate until the chilled coconut oil hardens the dough. Scoop with a small spoon and roll in your palms to form 24 balls, each about 3/4" in diameter... the warmth of your hands will soften the dough. If making ahead, refrigerate these balls in single layers between wax paper sheets. Before serving, put your choice of coating into a small zipper bag and shake a few balls at a time to coat them. If you roll the coating on too far in advance, it sort of melts into the dough and disappears. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

As my mother always did, I decided to coat mine with powdered sugar. I don't keep 10X sugar on my shelves, and didn't want to buy a box for such a small amount. I stock regular white sugar for my hummingbird feeders. So I put about 2 T of white sugar into a clean coffee grinder and whirled it into just the right amount of white powder. This also works with sweeteners like coconut palm sugar (making a light brown powder) or types of raw sugar.

Strawberry Spice Cakes

This is my variation on strawberry shortcakes, bursting with flavor. Instead of plain biscuit-type "cakes," I make mine as spiced muffins. Freshly picked ripe strawberries are naturally sweet, and are wonderfully accented with these ingredients. You can also make this recipe for spiced cakes as a sweet bread, and use slices for the final presentation:

INGREDIENTS
If an ingredient is in red type, look for details on my "Ingredients" page, linking from the top of any page in this blog.
 
For the Cakes (makes about 18 muffins or 6 muffins and 3 mini loaves):

2 eggs, beaten
1 c honey
1/2 c sorghum syrup or molasses
1/2 c coconut oil, warmed to liquid
1 can pumpkin puree (about 1-1/4 c)
2 c all purpose gluten free flour *
1/2 c sorghum flour
1 T chai spices or pumpkin pie spices
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c chopped fresh strawberries
(* If not concerned with making this dessert gluten-free, use 2-1/2c white wheat flour in place of the two gluten-free flours in my recipe.)

Cream:
Whipped Coconut Cream (see the recipe here)

Topping:
3 c sliced fresh strawberries
1 t ground cinnamon
2 t lemon juice
sweetener to taste

DIRECTIONS (for 4):
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease large muffin tins or mini bread pans. Mix eggs, honey, sorghum, coconut oil and pumpkin puree well. Separately mix the flours, spices, baking soda and salt. Stir the chopped strawberries into the dry mix to coat them. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until well mixed. Spoon into the muffin cups, filling them just half way. Bake for 30 minutes for muffins or 50 minutes for mini bread loaves. Remove to a rack and cool.

Mix the sliced strawberries with the cinnamon and lemon juice. If they need sweetening, I use my own homemade vanilla/stevia extract. Alternately, sweeten with a little local honey. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, and the berries will release juices.

Mix the coconut cream topping, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Just as delicious on slices of spiced bread

To serve, split 4 muffins in half (top and bottom) and place them open in an individual serving bowl. I switch the order of the toppings from a conventional strawberry shortcake: top muffin halves with a big dollop of cream, then spoon the strawberries on top, with all their sweet juices, flavoring the cream and the cake. This tastes just as scrumptious on a slice of the spiced bread - for breakfast, dessert or anytime snack.


P.S. Thanks to my special friend Sandra for my lovely personalized dish cloth; she is an extraordinary quilter and master of machine embroidery, as you can see.

Whipped Coconut Cream

Whipped Coconut Cream on top of my homemade Pumpkin Bread Pudding (a future recipe post)

My friend Diane asked that I post this recipe after I served it on pumpkin bread at a gathering of gardening friends last week. I first made this recipe last Thanksgiving, to go on top of a peanut-chocolate pie (recipe in a future post) I was bringing to our hosts. We had a 3-hour drive and I knew "real" whipped cream would not be a good option... I couldn't whip it fresh on-site at a house I'd never been to (filled with loads of people I'd never met!), and if I made it ahead it would have lost its volume in transit. So I decided to try a variation of a coconut whipped topping recipe I had copied off the internet. I got many compliments, no complaints, and didn't find any reason to reveal its unconventional ingredients. I dubbed it a winner!

I love this non-dairy alternative to traditional Whipped Cream for several reasons:

• I always have the ingredients on hand
• It's very fast and easy to make
• Doesn't separate even if mixed days ahead
• Travels well
• Can be made with simple hand-mixing; a mixer is not essential
• It's thick and rich, so you don't need to use much for each serving
• Cholesterol-free
• I can control what goes in it (ReadyWhip and other creams have ingredients I don't like)
• All-natural ingredients (unlike other non-dairy whipped toppings)
• Sweetening with stevia creates a sugar-free topping
• This is delicious!

 Whipped Coconut Cream
(makes about 10-12 servings)
(items in red type are detailed on the Ingredients page) 

INGREDIENTS
1 can full-fat coconut milk, refrigerated (I use Thai Kitchen brand)
vanilla stevia* to taste

Optional Ingredients: Other flavored extracts (like almond or peppermint), cocoa or carob powder, citrus peel, cinnamon or other spices

DIRECTIONS
I keep one unopened can of coconut milk in the refrigerator all the time, UPSIDE-DOWN so it will be cold whenever I am ready to make this. Cooling helps make the thick creamy part separate from the watery liquid. Open the can at the top and scoop the thick white cream into a small bowl. To catch all the thick cream, you can scoop the last of it with a spatula, pouring the watery liquid through a strainer to catch any remaining thick cream. Save the watery liquid to use in smoothes or other recipes.

Use a hand whisk to mix in the vanilla stevia. If you don't want to use vanilla stevia, add 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 T of honey or maple syrup or agave nectar. Alternately, you can beat the cream with a hand- or standup-mixer to make it more airy and light. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

This mixes up so firm and thick that you can pipe it for a more decorative look, decorating a cake top with it in place of frosting. Or just plop it by the spoonful on top of a slice of pie, sweet bread, pudding, fresh fruit, or whatever suits your fancy. If left in the refrigerator, it might thicken, but just stir it up again when ready to use. Keeps for up to a week in the fridge, if it lasts that long at your house! Let me know how you use this recipe.

* I make my own vanilla stevia. I harvest organic stevia leaves and flowers from my summer garden and pack them in a jar, covered with vodka of the highest proof I can find affordably. After 4-6 weeks, I strain the plant materials out and discard them in my compost, and put the extract into a jar. I add several pieces of vanilla bean, (some I have already used to make vanilla extract!) and leave them in the jar with the stevia extract indefinitely. You can purchase vanilla stevia liquid extract also. Since there is no consistency to the sweetness of stevia extracts, taste as you add very small amounts - it is powerful.

Pumpkin Chai Snickerdoodles

The first baking lesson in my 7th grade Home Economics class with Mrs. Hamel was Snickerdoodle Cookies. This is a great variation on the classic, especially made with homegrown pumpkin. Did you know you can use butternut squash in place of canned pumpkin in recipes? When making your own, just be sure to drain the liquid off the cooked squash or pumpkin, to get that similar thick consistency to canned. More on using fresh pumpkin in a future post....

These are gluten-free, to fit my lifestyle diet, but certainly can be made with wheat flour to produce the same delicious results. 

Remember, ingredients shown in red are described in more detail on the Ingredients page of this blog.


Pumpkin Snickerdoodles with Chai Spices (makes about 15 cookies)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 c fine almond flour or (part almond and part all-purpose gluten-free flour)
• 1 t pumpkin pie spice or chai spices*
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/2 c fresh pumpkin puree, drained to make it thick
• 1/4 c melted coconut oil
• 1/4 c honey
• 1 t vanilla extract
• Optional: 1 T psyllium husk powder (makes a firmer cookie texture)

COATING:

• 2 T coconut palm sugar
• 2 tsp chai spices*

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut parchment paper to line your cookie sheet.

In a medium bowl, whisk the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients. (Make sure your pumpkin is at room temperature so the coconut oil does not harden.)

Mix the coating ingredients, sugar and spices, in a small bag.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mix and blend by hand. The dough will be thick, so mix to moisten everything well. Form one tablespoon of dough into a ball (wet hands if necessary to prevent sticking), roughly golf ball size. Drop it into the bag of sugar and spice coating and shake to coat. Reach in and shake off excess, then place the dough ball on a cookie sheet. Flatten the ball with your fingers to about 1/2" thick. These cookies don't expand much except to puff up a bit, so you can place them close. Repeat with rest of the dough.

Bake for 20 minutes until bottoms are golden and the tops begin to crack.

* You can substitute cinnamon for chai spices. I mix my own chai spices, mimicking the traditional chai tea flavors:
4 parts ground cinnamon
1 part ground cloves
1 part ground nutmeg
1 part ground cardamon
1 part ground allspice
1 part powdered ginger root
1 part ground black pepper

Easy Yummy Nut Cookies and Biscotti - A Theme and Variations

My friend Diane gave me a simple recipe for a Peanut Butter Cookie she had made for a gathering of friends. "Only 4 ingredients," she noted, and it makes for a delicious, easy dessert. After tasting one, I got her recipe. If you ever need a baking project with children, I'd recommend these cookies… fun and yummy! The original cookie recipe is at the top of this post, followed by recipes based on the original which I've created. The biscotti variation is my claim to fame, however - Rick judged them the best biscotti I've ever made (and I've made many)! These are all gluten-free too. (NOTE: Ingredients in red type are detailed on my "ingredients" page.)

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Peanut n’ Honey Cookies (makes a dozen 2-1/2" cookies or 20 small cookies)
- original recipe from: 7 Secrets Cookbook by Neva and Jim Brackett, called Peanut Butter N Honey Cookies

2 cups dry roasted peanuts (lightly salted; if not salted add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt) *
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (or one cup of flour)
1/2 cup honey (warmed in microwave - this is a critical step; it needs to pour like water and if too little the mix will be dry and if too much the cookies will be tough.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place peanuts and oats in food processor and whiz for 1 minute until they are the texture of fine bread crumbs. Pour into bowl and add salt if using. Mix in honey and vanilla. Stir together and then mix with your hands. Dough should hold together nicely. If dry and crumbly add a bit of water; if too wet add a bit of flour (gluten-free flour, if GF is a concern for you).

Make walnut size balls and flatten on parchment-lined cookie sheet, then use fork to press down (use a cup of water to dip the fork into). The cookies don't spread while cooking, so they can be fairly close on the cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Putting them on the top rack of the oven helps keep the bottoms from browning too fast. Watch them and remove from oven when they are just beginning to brown on the edges. You can take them out before they look like they are done. They over-brown quickly. Cool on a wire rack.


* Check the ingredients on your purchase of roasted peanuts. I assumed the ingredients would be just peanuts, salt, and perhaps some oil… but then I detected a sweet taste. Not only did the jar I had used include sugar AND corn syrup, but it even had added monosodium glutamate. Yuck! My next trip to the store revealed there is such a thing as a jar of roasted peanuts which only includes peanuts, so that's the one I stick with now.

 JUDY'S VARIATIONS:
1) Mix chocolate or carob morsels or broken pieces of hazelnut candy into the batter before baking and flatten the ball of dough with your hand, not a fork. Bake.
2) Make Thumbprint Peanut Butter and Jelly cookies: Instead of flattening and pressing the raw dough with a fork, press your thumb into the unbaked round dough ball, just enough to make a well while flattening the ball (not so deep that you go to the cookie sheet). Bake cookies as directed above for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and fill the well with 1/2 to 1 tsp of your favorite jam. Return to the oven to finish baking.
3) Add chopped dried banana chips to the dough before baking
4) Flatten unbaked dough ball with your palm before baking, then press a chocolate candy kiss onto each cookie as soon as you remove them from the oven
Be creative and make your own version!

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Judy's Almond Gingersnap Cookies (makes a dozen 2-1/2" cookies or 20 small cookies)

2 cups raw or unsalted roasted almonds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (or one cup of flour)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 c molasses or sorghum syrup
1 teaspoon ground ginger root
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
optional: 1 tablespoon dried fine orange peel; 1/2 cup currants, raisins, or chopped dried plums

Place nuts and oats in food processor and whiz for 1 minute until they are the texture of fine bread crumbs. Pour into bowl and add salt and spices. Mix the maple syrup and molasses and warm them in a microwave - this is a critical step; it needs to pour like water and if too little the mix will be dry and if too much the cookies will be tough. Mix maple syrup, molasses, and vanilla into the dry ingredients. Stir together and then mix with your hands. Dough should hold together nicely. If dry and crumbly add a bit of water; if too wet add a bit of flour.

Make walnut size balls and flatten on parchment-lined cookie sheet, then press down to flatten the ball slightly. The cookies don't spread while cooking, so they can be fairly close on the cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Putting them on the top rack of the oven helps keep the bottoms from browning too fast. Watch them and remove from oven when they are just beginning to brown on the edges. You can take them out before they look like they are done. They over-brown quickly. Cool on a wire rack.

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Judy's Peanut Butter and Jelly Biscotti

2 cups dry roasted peanuts* (lightly salted; if not salted add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt)
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup honey (warmed in microwave- this is a critical step; it needs to pour like water and if too little the mix will be dry and if too much the cookies will be tough.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup jam (I used St. Dalfour's Red Raspberry, which is sweetened with grape juice, not refined sugar)

Place peanuts and flour or oats in food processor and whiz for 1 minute until crumbly. Pour into bowl and add salt if using. Mix in honey and vanilla. Stir together and then mix with your hands. Dough should hold together nicely. If dry and crumbly add a bit of water; if too wet add a bit of flour.

Separate the dough in 2 pieces. Working on a piece of parchment or waxed paper, shape one piece into a log about 2-3" in diameter, then flatten it to about 1/4" thick. Spread the jam to within 1/4" of the edges. Roll from the long side, making a log again. Repeat with the other half of the dough.

Move each log to the parchment covered baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Cut the logs on a diagonal into 1/2 inch thick slices. Return slices to the baking sheet, on their sides, and bake again for 10-15 minutes or until desired crispness. They over-brown quickly so watch them for doneness. Cool completely on a rack.

Be Mine!

February 14th is a special day for me and my honey, since it is the day we married (way back in 1976). Here's my annual Valentine's Day recipe, in time for you to try it: Red Velvet Cake, made using beets. Don't stop reading here - it's delicious!

Beets are one of my new favorite veggies, and I had read recipes which used red beets to make Red Velvet Cake (instead of a whole bottle of toxic red food coloring). This could be the perfect opportunity to use my heart-shaped springform pan and heart-shaped serving dish! I found a red velvet cake recipe using beets online and followed the recipe the first time, except substituting GF flour. The second time I made it, I made many changes, creating my own recipe to make a more healthy end product. I also created some beet-juice tinted decorations!

Commonly, recipes for this cake use buttermilk, so I'm certain that the milk + lemon juice + yogurt + vinegar works as a substitute here, and I wouldn't eliminate them. I up'd the spices however, since I could hardly taste them in the original recipe, and added the vanilla extract… all nice complements to the mild cocoa flavor.

I also wanted to stick with a simple topping, rather than the customary cream cheese or 7-minute frostings, which are heavy on refined sugar. Whipped cream with raspberries or strawberries would be nice, but I didn't have those ingredients on hand. If it were springtime, I'd use some lovely pansies (edible and pretty) from the garden. If you baked mulitple layers, raspberry jam in between would taste heavenly! This time I tried a combination of decorations, as shown in the photo collage and described below, just to give you some ideas.

Red Velvet Cake Made with Beets
(yields one 9″ round layer)

3/4 c pureed red beets  (I roasted 2 large fresh beets wrapped in foil at 350 for 45-60 min, but next time I will try cooking in my pressure cooker; drained canned beets would probably work fine too)
1/2 c coconut oil, softened
1/4 c milk
1/4 c lemon juice
1 t plain yogurt
1/2 t balsamic vinegar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c honey
1 t vanilla extract

1 c flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour plus 3/4 t xanthan gum)
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground cloves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Allow the wet ingredients to get to room temperatures. Puree the beets in a food processor, measuring out 3/4 cup to use. (I used the leftover beets in my smoothies). CAUTION: red beets will stain, so I recommend doing your mixing in stainless steel or glass bowls, avoiding plastic and rubber utensils.

Add all the other wet ingredients to the pureed beets and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until combined. Grease a 9" cake pan and line with parchment. Dump the batter into the pan (it's slightly thick) and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of the center comes out clean, then turn off the oven and leave it in for another 10 minutes. Cool briefly in the pan, and remove to a wire rack to cool completely before icing or decorating.

MY DECORATIONS

Rather than slather on thick sugary frosting, I opted for 3 types of decorations, and had fun with them, using some red beet juice for coloring, which I had saved from the roasting beets process:

1) MERINGUE HEARTS AND "LOVE" LETTERS
I took the idea for meringue letters and hearts from Martha Stewart Living. I had never made meringue before, and I discovered it's quite easy. I resorted to using refined white sugar (I keep some on hand just for the hummingbirds' food), which I ground fine in my coffee grinder. Next time I'll experiment using honey instead. The recipe:  whisk 2 egg whites with 1/2 c fine sugar over warm water for 2-3 minutes. My small glass mix-master bowl fit in a 3-qt saucepan nicely. Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of cream of tartar. I also added a small amount of red beet juice. Remove from the heated water and whip with an electric mixer on high until stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled - this took only about 3 minutes for me. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag and squeeze out hearts and letters onto a parchment lined pan. As you can see, I'm lacking in piping experience, especially when compared with Martha! Bake for 1 hour at 200 degrees, then leave them in the "off" oven to cool.
2) PINK COCONUT
I whirled some unsweetened dry organic coconut in my coffee grinder to make it fine. Then I mixed in some red beet juice, enough to make a strong magenta color. Sprinkled on the cake top, it looks like colored sugar.
3) WHITE CHOCOLATE STARS
I had thought I might drizzle white chocolate along the edges of the heart-shaped cake, so I melted a couple of squares of Ghiradelli premium white chocolate baking bar in a glass cut set in a pan of hot water. Even when melted, it was still thick. I added beet juice to color it, then added a little coconut oil to soften it. Coconut oil is liquid when heated, solid when cooled. This gave the chocolate enough consistency so I could spoon it into a piping bag with a star tip and make some little frilled stars around the cake top.
Get creative and let me know how you decorate your Red Velvet Beet Cake!


Happy Valentine's Day to you and your sweetie!

Chocolate Mousse

Several friends have asked for this delicious recipe, which has unusual and surprising ingredients. It must be blended very smooth, so a powerful blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec works best. I adapted this from a recipe in a blog by Zoe V, a raw foodie, with slight changes. Remember, ingredients in bright red are explained in more detail on the INGREDIENTS list in the right sidebar.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
1/2 c soy milk or other liquid*
3 ripe avocados, peel and pit discarded
1/3 c honey OR light agave nectar
2 T coconut oil
1 t balsamic vinegar
2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
A few drops of liquid stevia, optional
More liquid* as needed

* For the liquid, choose according to your taste; organic soy or almond milk, 100% cherry juice, water

Add all ingredients except the cocao powder in the blender and emulsify. Because the mixture is dry you may need to use the temper to push the ingredients toward the blades. Turn the blender off, scrape the sides into the mix, and add the cocao powder. Blend until well incorporated, adding additional liquid until it is very creamy. Eat like a pudding, use as a fruit dip, or spoon into a pie crust and top with whipped cream!

Try your own taste variations, like adding peppermint leaves or extract to the mix, adding instant coffee or a coffee-flavored powder like Roma, organic orange zest, or try stirring chopped dark chocolate chunks into the finished mousse.

NOTES: Coconut oil is very healthful, and will be solid unless your room temperature is quite hot, so liquify by heating gently if necessary - I submerge it in a measuring cup within a container of hot water for a few minutes. Avocado sizes vary, but the portion amount is not critical to the success of this recipe; avocados are also very healthful and creamy but they don't have strong flavor on their own, so they add great texture to this recipe. I like to use Rapunzel Organic Cocoa Powder. I use either "Ohgave" light organic agave nectar or honey gathered and processed by my friend and neighbor, Susan. For a slightly sweeter taste, I add a few drops of liquid stevia extract, which I create myself from stevia leaves I grow.

Cool Strawberry Cream Pie

It's been in the 90s all week... the perfect time for a no-bake pie made from freshly picked strawberries. You can short-cut this recipe by using a purchased graham cracker crust and topping my cream filling with your favorite strawberry jam. But I'll guarantee my made-from-scratch version is luscious! My short-cut is to use the food processor for each of the three layers.

CRUST:
2 c granola*
2 T softened butter or coconut oil

CREAM FILLING:
8 oz Neufchatel cheese (or cream cheese), softened
1/2 c cottage cheese or plain yogurt
2 T lemon juice
1 t grated dried orange peel
2 T honey

FRUIT TOPPING:
3 c fresh cleaned and hulled strawberries
10 drops liquid stevia (or other sweetener)
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/3 c fruit juice
1 t agar agar flakes** (or 1 T corn starch or arrowroot)

Whirl the granola into fine crumbs in a food processor and mix well with the butter or oil. Press the mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9" pie plate.

Rinse the food processor and mix all the cream filling ingredients until smooth. Dump the filling into prepared pie shell, spreading to the top of the granola crumbs and smoothing the top flat. No one will ever guess that cottage cheese is used in this delicious slightly sweet filling!

Rinse out the food processor and chop the strawberries by pulsing a just a few times - don't over process or you'll end up with a wet puree. Put the chopped berries in a bowl and add the stevia (or your choice of sweetener) and cinnamon. If the berries have shed a lot of juice, pour this off into a measuring cup; otherwise use 100% fruit juice, like blueberry or grape juice, and heat 1/3 cup to boiling. Stir in agar agar flakes and simmer 5-10 minutes until the mixture thickens. Add this to the strawberries and mix well. Let this mixture cool. Spoon the strawberry mixture over the cream filling, and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

This recipe will work well with other fresh fruit, like blueberries, blackberries, peaches, and others. Try fresh red raspberries with a chocolate cookie crust - yum!

* See this blog for my recipe for homemade granola, or use your favorite purchased mixture

** Agar agar flakes are a thickener, much like unflavored gelatin, derived from a sea weed. It is commonly sold in health food stores. Alternately, you can thicken the juice with cornstarch, used in the same way as the agar agar flakes.

Judy's Sweet Potato Spice Bread

This is a moist, finely textured quick bread I created to use some of my huge sweet potato harvest. Cook extra sweet potatoes without any seasoning when you are preparing some for a meal, and set aside enough to make this recipe. I've frozen zip bags with 1-1/4 cups of mashed cooked sweet potatoes for future use. The next time I make this bread, I think I'll also add one chopped apple. Yum!

• 3 c whole wheat white flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger root
• 1/2 c golden raisins
• 1/2 c chopped nuts
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 c oil
• 1/4 c honey
• 1/2 c molasses or sorghum
• 1-1/4 c cooked sweet potatoes
• 1/2 c apple juice or milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Stir raisins into the dry mixture. I use the food processor for the wet ingredients - but you can mix by hand if preferred. Pulse the eggs to beat slightly, add the rest of the wet ingredients and process until the potatoes are well mashed into the liquid. Pour the wet into the dry ingredients, and mix by hand until everything is moistened - the batter will be thick. Pour into one greased standard loaf pan or three greased mini loaf pans. Back large loaf for 60 minutes, small loaves for 45 minutes, until the top is browning. Freezes well if you don't eat it all fresh from the oven. I like this for breakfast.