12 weeks of Christmas blog hop -- Gluten/Dairy Free Sweet Potato Bread

Sweet Potato Bread/Cake 

I'm excited to jump back in to the Christmas Treats Blog Hop after a week of traveling and undergoing some home rennovation.  I love to see what everyone's baking for the holidays.

Our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) packages from a local farm have included lots of sweet potatoes lately. That's good news for my hubby, who could eat a sweet potato every day and never get tired of them. We actually do eat them throughout the year, but, of course, we do have special memories of our mothers' special sweet potato casseroles for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  There's something about sweet potatoes that make one think of fall and the holidays.

Since we are receiving so many at one time, I decided to make some sweet potato bread to freeze for an upcoming party. Wouldn't you know that dear hubby and I couldn't wait to taste it to see how if this bread was as yummy as it smelled right out of the oven? Alas for my waistline, it does. It also tastes good cold on the second day!  There's plenty left, but it's clear that the loaf will never make it to the freezer.  :)

I not only decided to experiment with sweet potato bread, but also to try to make it gluten and dairy free. I read a recipe that uses self-rising flour and used it as a starting point for making up my own concoction. I further tweaked ingredients because I used more sweet potatoes than the original recipe called for. That meant that I needed to increase the dry ingredients a bit.  Since I was winging it, I was relieved when it turned out so well.

Here's what I did:

I boiled 5 or 6 sweet potatoes of different sizes and shapes.  Since the potatos are of such varied sizes, I guestimated how many I would need. I let them cool in the refrigerator.  When I mashed them, they came out to about three cups.  Of course, the skins pop easily off of boiled sweet potatoes, and they are easy to mash for a batter.

To 3 cups of mashed sweet potatoes, I added
2 cups gluten free Bisquick
1 cup sugar
cinnamon (I used a packet of cinnamon from Cracker Barrel, which they send with a takeout order of baked sweet potato.  You could use 2 tsps. or to taste)
1/2 cup veggie oil
2 TBSP coconut milk
3 large eggs
1 cup pecan pieces (the pieces sized for cookies)
1 scant cup raisins

I hand-mixed all of the ingredients and put them into a greased bundt pan. I baked it at 350 degrees.  I checked it at one hour and every five minutes afterward, which I recommend, but it actually took about 15 to 20 minutes more to bake.  It is done when an inserted knife or toothpick comes out clean.

This blog hop will inspire me to go on to new treats. If I do make this again for my upcoming party, I will serve it with cream cheese.   I may also dot the top with powdered sugar just for looks.  You could also slice this bread/cake thinly, spread the slices with cream cheese, and put two together to make little party sandwiches.  But, it's a wonderful treat on its own and doesn't need any extras to make it festive.

If I had not made this bread myself, I wouldn't know by taste or texture that it is gluten and dairy free.

Enjoy!