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:
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:
Sweet Potato Pie Bread Pudding
yields 9 servings
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
