Sweet Potato Breakfast Mash

This is one of my new favorite breakfasts. I've been eating it regularly for about 8 months now, but it seems like a great holiday season breakfast to share. The photo doesn't do it justice. You can prepare it to order, or ahead of time, and serve warm or cold. Often, I make it ahead of time, so it all coalesces in flavor, and then microwave it to serve warm. I got this from the Happy Herbivore Meal Mentor Big Breakfast Book. 

Ingredients:
1 sweet potato, cooked 
¼ cup applesauce 
ground cinnamon 
4 tsp brown sugar 
1 tbsp chopped pecans 

Directions:

1. If you haven't cooked the sweet potato yet, do so.
2. Mash potato in a bowl and mix with applesauce. 
3. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar then garnish with pecans.

Notes:

• Serves 1
• Per serving: 282 calories, 4.8g fat, 58.6g carbs, 6.2g fiber, 36.3g sugars, 5.3g protein
• You can add raisins.
• You can sub peanuts for pecans.

Oat and Pecan Bread

Half this loaf was gone within a couple hours of putting it all together. This one is not vegan, but I plan to test some vegan substitutions with it this winter.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup medium oatmeal

3/4 cup plain wheat flour

1/2 cup caster sugar (or baker's sugar)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp grated or ground nutmeg

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

For the topping:

3 tbsp roughly chopped pecans or walnuts

1/2 cup flaked coconut

half quantity of toffee sauce (see Toffee Sauce recipe)

Directions:

1. Bring a kettle of water to the boil. Pace the oatmeal in a medium bowl and cover with 5/8 cup hot water from the kettle. Stir until smooth then set aside to swell for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine the flour, white and brown sugars, baking powder, salt cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
2. Heat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a loaf tin and line it with parchment paper.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and vanilla extract together until soft and creamy. Beat in the egg, then add the thick oatmeal mixture a spoonful at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Using a spatula, quickly fold in the flour mixture until fully incorporated. Transfer the batter to the prepared tin and smooth over the surface, allowing it to dip slightly along the middle to give a more even rise. Bake for 1 hour or until golden and firm. Remove from  the oven and set aside to cool in the tin.
5. Meanwhile, make the topping. Wait until the cake is cooling before making the topping. In a small saucepan, toast the chopped nuts until fragrant, then transfer to a heatproof mixing bowl to cool. Break up any very large flakes of coconut and add the to the nuts. Make the toffee sauce according to the instructions and stir it into the bowl of nuts.
6. Spread the topping over the cake while still in the tin and leave to set. When completely cold, carefully remove the cake from the tin and serve.
7. Notes: the pecan, coconut and toffee topping is optional. This recipe can be baked in muffin pans.

Notes:

Serves 12

Dessert: Pumpkin Cheesecake

This dessert was made several years ago over the holidays (for New Year's Eve, if I recall correctly.) I liked it. I didn't like it enough to plan to make it again. However, it was another one of those special desserts that makes it to the blog due to effort. I got the recipe from Cook's Illustrated. 

Frustratingly, I cannot access the recipe anymore, but due to the restrictive levels of the Cook's Illustrated website, I'd probably get a cease and desist. If you are a Cook's Illustrated subscriber, search for Pumpkin-Bourbon Cheesecake with Graham-Pecan Crust to get the recipe for this yummy pumpkin cheesecake.