December 1st.

Wow.

It feels like Summer was just yesterday… but I’m welcoming Winter with open arms. Fall in New England lasts only for the blink of an eye; though we had a handful of unseasonably warm days over the past month, the temperature has now dipped and it is really starting to feel like the holidays.

I’ve been blasting the Trans-Siberian Orchestra Holiday station on Pandora, the mini pumpkins sitting on our windowsills have been replaced with fragrant fir boughs, we’re about to send out seasons greetings cards, and I’ve jumped right into holiday baking.

I’ve always loved the combination of tart dried cranberries and sweet white chocolate, and there’s no denying that the color combination is seasonally appropriate.

The marriage of those two ingredients deliciously compliments these sweet potato blondies, which I loosely adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Vegan Cookies Invade your Cookie Jar.

The changes I made to the original recipe are as follows:

• swapped in pumpkin puree for half of the canola oil
• cut way back on the sugar
• used a combination of white whole wheat flour + whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose
• added in a bit of ground nutmeg
• subbed in white chocolate chips and dried cranberries for the nuts and chocolate chips

These sweet potato blondies are beautifully spiced, perfectly dense & chewy, and just sweet enough to not make your teeth ache.

Oh, and they’re huge! I typically divide an 8 x 8 inch pan of brownies/blondies/bars into 16 servings, but I cut these into 9. It is the holidays, after all… but as you can see from the nutritional information listed below the recipe, this dessert isn’t nearly as decadent as many others out there.

I, for one, am totally hooked on these blondies. I’d be perfectly content to bake a few more batches to see me to the end of the year!

Spiced Sweet Potato Blondies with Cranberries and White Chocolate

loosely adapted from Sweet Potato Blondies as seen on 6 Bittersweets, originally from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Vegan Cookies Invade your Cookie Jar

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sweet potato puree (roast a large sweet potato at 400°F for 45-60 minutes, or until very soft; let cool, peel, and puree flesh; measure out 3/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup Turbinado sugar
• 1/3 cup Sucanat or lightly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup milk (I used organic 1%)
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 cup natural white chocolate chips (such as Sunspire)
• 1/2 cup apple-juice sweetened dried cranberries (available at Whole Foods)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Lightly grease a 8 x 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, stir together sweet potato puree through vanilla extract until well-mixed.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour through spices.

Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet, just until moistened. Batter will be thick.

Fold in white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan in an even layer.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the blondies comes out mostly clean. As with brownies, you want a few moist crumbs to adhere to the toothpick, but not any raw batter.

Let the blondies cool for 10 minutes before slicing into bars.

238.2 calories, 8.4 grams fat, 0.5 grams saturated fat, 3.2 grams fiber, 25 grams sugar, 3 grams protein

Estimated Nutrition Per Serving (1 blondie square)

• Calories: 225 kcal
• Total Fat: 10g
  • Saturated Fat: 6g
  • Trans Fat: 0g
• Cholesterol: 42mg
• Sodium: 71mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 31g
  • Dietary Fiber: 1g
  • Sugars: 19g
• Protein: 3g
• Vitamin D: 3mcg
• Calcium: 31mg
• Iron: 1mg
• Potassium: 125mg

Please note that these nutrition values are estimated and can vary depending on the specific ingredients and brands used. It’s always a good practice to calculate nutrition values based on the exact ingredients you use if you have specific dietary requirements or restrictions. Enjoy your delicious Spiced Sweet Potato Blondies!

One of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes is mashed sweet potatoes. Whipped into oblivion, lightly sweetened with maple syrup and brown sugar, and heavily spiced with cinnamon & nutmeg, a simple sweet potato mash is more appealing to me than a mini-marshmallow-topped sweet potato casserole as an accompaniment to succulent roast turkey and all the trimmings.

The combination of sweet potato and marshmallow definitely seems like more of a dessert to me. Therein lies the inspiration for these mini whoopie pies.

Although pumpkin whoopie pies have been taking the foodie blogosphere by storm lately, I wanted to introduce a different seasonal flavor. I started with a pumpkin whoopie pie recipe from Real Simple and subbed in sweet potato puree, as well as putting my own healthier spin on the cookies.

The moist cookies are like little pillows of spiced sweet potato cake. I like them so much I might make another batch with some add-ins such as chocolate chips, chopped pecans, and/or dried cranberries.

The frosting is comprised of all-natural marshmallow cream, a touch of butter for creaminess, and a double dose of maple. I will warn you that the frosting is a bit runny, so take care to dab just a bit in between each whoopie pie. I went a little way overboard while frosting the first set of cookies, and the marshmallow mixture dripped all over the place! Be sure to check out my note following the recipe on alternate ways to frost the cookies.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp sweet potato puree (preferably freshly made –  bake sweet potatoes for 1 hour at 400 degrees or until super soft, puree flesh in food processor until smooth)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp Sucanat or brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp pure maple extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt

Maple Marshmallow Frosting-

• 2 oz all-natural marshmallow creme (such as Tiny Trapeze or Ricemellow)
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp pure maple extract

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

Beat the sweet potato puree, maple syrup, and brown sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add in both extracts and egg, and beat until well combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together both of the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir until fully incorporated.

Using a mini ice cream scoop or a small spoon, scoop batter onto prepared cookie sheet (the cookies don’t spread out, but they do puff up). You should have 20-24 scoops of batter. Bake until cookies have puffed up and are dry to the touch, about 8-10 minutes. Let cookies rest on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (if you try to frost the still-warm cookies, the marshmallow cream mixture will melt all over the place).

Meanwhile, prepare the maple marshmallow frosting. Clean the beaters, then beat the marshmallow creme, butter, maple syrup, and maple extract until smooth.

Spoon about 1 tsp of the marshmallow mixture into the center of half of the cooled cookies. Top with remaining cookies, gently pressing down to create a whoopie pie. Chill assembled whoopie pies until filling has set.

*NOTE: the marshmallow frosting is a bit on the runny side. Be sure to add just a dab of frosting in between each cookie for the whoopie pies. Alternately, you can frost the cookies as illustrated below.

For these guys, I just dipped the tines of a fork into the frosting and drizzled it over the top of the cookies:

For a few others, I simply dunked the top of the cookies into the marshmallow mixture. No matter how you frost the cookies, they taste great. For aesthetic variety, you might even want to use all three frosting techniques:

Estimated Nutrition Per Serving (2 mini whoopie pies)

• Calories: Approximately 220 calories
• Total Fat: 10g
• Saturated Fat: 6g
• Cholesterol: 35mg
• Sodium: 160mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 32g
• Dietary Fiber: 1g
• Sugars: 20g
• Protein: 2g

Pie is undoubtedly the classic American Thanksgiving dessert, but this post is about what goes on top of the pie.

When it comes to pie a la mode, there’s no argument that the traditional accompaniment is vanilla ice cream. Not chocolate or strawberry or butter pecan or coffee… or any other novelty ice cream flavor.

The question that begs to be asked is this: why the heck not?

I suppose the answer is simply that vanilla is a rather unassuming flavor, which is to say it does not compete with the flavors of whatever type of pie it is served with. Sure, you wouldn’t want to eat mint chocolate chip ice cream with apple pie; but there are certainly ice cream flavors that pair well with classic Thanksgiving pies.

Enter Spiced Sweet Potato Ice Cream, the perfect crown for many seasonal pies: pumpkin, pecan, apple, and (obviously) sweet potato.

Sweet potatoes are roasted until extremely soft and aromatic before being pureed into oblivion and mixed with creamy half-and-half, robust brown sugar & maple syrup, and a generous amount of warm spices.

The velvety smooth mixture is churned in an ice cream machine until it reaches a light and creamy soft-serve consistency, at which point it can either be eaten immediately or frozen until hardened.

This luscious orange-hued ice cream is rich without being too heavy, perfectly sweet, and beautifully spiced.

It’s delectable just as it is, but would be even better served atop a warm piece of pie as part of a Thanksgiving dessert spread.

Spiced Sweet Potato Ice Cream

inspired by Cherry Tea Cakes

Ingredients

• 2 lbs sweet potatoes, preferably organic, baked until super soft (about 1 hour at 400 degrees F) then peeled, pureed until very smooth (yield should be between 2 1/4 cups and 2 1/2 cups of puree), and chilled in the refrigerator until cold (I recommend doing this one day in advance so that the sweet potato puree is thoroughly chilled)
• 2 cups half-and-half (1 pint), preferably organic
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used golden, but light or dark would work fine)
• 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together the half-and-half and brown sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Whisk in the chilled sweet potato puree (as mentioned above, this should be about 2 1/4 – 2 1/2 cups), maple syrup, and spices.

Chill mixture in the refrigerator until cold.

Churn mixture according to ice cream manufacturer’s instructions.

Serve immediately as soft serve, or transfer to an air-tight container and freeze until “ripened” (hardened).

Estimated Nutrition Per Serving (1/2 cup)

• Calories: 190 kcal
• Fat: 11g
• Carbohydrates: 22g
• Sugar: 14g
• Protein: 2g
• Fiber: 1g

If you’ve had your fill of sweet potatoes from Thanksgiving, then you’re in the wrong place, my friend.

You see, I’m not even close to reaching my sweet potato threshold. I’m not even sure that I have one.

Case in point:

• Sweet Potato Brown Rice Pudding

• Sweet Potato Pecan Cinnamon Rolls [Vegan]

• Wild Rice and Sweet Potato Croquettes

• Spiced Sweet Potato Ice Cream

• Mini Sweet Potato Whoopie Pies with Maple Marshmallow Frosting

• Autumn Date and Walnut Bread

This collection of recipes was posted over the course of one month… and it doesn’t include the many bowls of sweet potato oatmeal, cups of sweet potato yogurt, platefuls of sweet potato fries, and slices of a delicious sweet potato quick bread (the recipe of which I will post once you have the chance to digest all of these sweet potato goodies) that I enjoyed throughout November.

[sneak peak of the sweet potato quick bread]

Each bite of this light bread pudding is incredibly moist, full of the spice flavors found in sweet potato pie, and delicately sweetened with maple syrup and brown sugar.

For this Sweet Potato Pie Bread Pudding, I started with my Pumpkin Raisin Bread Pudding recipe and subbed in sweet potato puree. The roasted sweet potatoes reach their optimal consistency when whirred in a food processor for a lump-free puree. I had to contain myself from digging into this still-warm, velvety smooth sweet potato puree with a big spoon.

I also omitted the raisins and used all whole wheat bread (Vermont Bread Company Vermont Sweet), which was slightly dry and therefore perfect for bread pudding.

Before baking in a water bath:

And after:

Now, this unadorned bread pudding is more so weekend breakfast fare than decadent dessert treat… until you add something special on top, such as a scoop of Spiced Sweet Potato Ice Cream or “Pilgrim Joe’s” Pumpkin Ice Cream from Trader Joe’s.

There’s nothing quite like warm bread pudding topped with ice cream melting down its sides. Warm, sweet, souffle-like bread pudding. Creamy, melting, spiced ice cream. It is the best of both worlds.

Don’t be deterred from making this by the unfortunate connotation associated with bread pudding: that it is loaded with sugar, calories, and fat. Most are, I suppose, but this recipe has only 194 calories, 3.3 grams of fat, and 11.3 grams of sugar per serving, (according to calorie count), which is less than an equal sized serving of most holiday treats. So the next time you come across a plate of stale, store-bought cookies at work or a platter of pigs-in-a-blanket at a holiday party, remind yourself that you could hold out and come home to this instead:

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup 2% milk
• 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar or Sucanat (or 1/4 cup for a sweeter bread pudding)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups sweet potato puree (bake about 2 lbs of sweet potatoes at 400°F for 1 hour or until very soft, peel, puree, and measure out 2 cups)
• 10 slices whole wheat sandwich bread, cut into 1 inch cubes (about 4 1/2 cups)

Directions

Combine the milk through sweet potato puree in a large bowl, whisking until well combined. Add bread cubes and stir gently to coat.

Spoon mixture into an 8×8 inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray (alternately, you can prepare 6 individual ramekins). Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place square dish (or ramekins) in a 13×9 inch baking dish; add hot water to larger dish to a depth of 1 inch. Cover with foil, and bake at 350°F for 25 minutes (more like 15 for individual ramekins). Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes (or 5 for ramekins).

Let cool for a few minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Eat Healthy, Live well

Estimated Nutrition Per Serving (1/8th of the recipe)

• Calories: Approximately 350 calories
• Protein: Approximately 7 grams
• Carbohydrates: Approximately 50 grams
• Dietary Fiber: Approximately 2 grams
• Sugars: Approximately 28 grams
• Fat: Approximately 14 grams
• Saturated Fat: Approximately 8 grams
• Cholesterol: Approximately 105 milligrams
• Sodium: Approximately 350 milligrams
• Vitamin A: Approximately 300% of the Daily Value (DV)
• Vitamin C: Approximately 4% DV
• Calcium: Approximately 15% DV
• Iron: Approximately 10% DV

Please note that these nutritional values are estimates and can vary depending on the specific brands and quantities of ingredients used. It’s always a good practice to calculate nutrition based on the exact ingredients and portion sizes you use if you have specific dietary concerns or requirements. Enjoy your Sweet Potato Pie Bread Pudding!