3 Sweet Potato & Maple Pecan Bread Pudding

Well, that sounds like an unlikely concoction, doesn't it?  I challenged myself to come up with a recipe that showcased the wonderful sweet potatoes harvested from the organic garden at E's school.  I volunteered to make a dish that people can sample made with produce from the garden at the Fall Festival today.  I tell you what, I think it turned out wonderfully!  It is definitely a keeper recipe, and it's very simple to make.

You'll need:
1 loaf cubed French or Challa bread (about 6 cups)
2 cups vanilla almond milk (or use heavy cream)
3 eggs
2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (I always salt them to taste while mashing.)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup maple syrup

First, these are the sweet potatoes in the raw, during trimming.

And here's E helping me wrap them in aluminum foil for baking.

Okay, for the bread pudding recipe, preheat the oven to 375.  In one large bowl toss the bread cubes with the almond milk until everything is coated and moistened and set aside for about 30-60 minutes (long enough to make a pot of tea and do the next bits.)

In another mixing bowl, beat the eggs and then add the sweet potato, brown sugar, spices, vanilla, and salt.

Mix well.  Try to smooth as many of the lumps of potato out as you can.  It really helps if the sweet potato is at room temp when you begin.

Now, add the cranberries and fold into the sweet potato mixture.

Add the cubed bread to the large bowl and fold together until all the cubes are coated.  I must admit, I tried pouring the batter over the bread cubes already in the baking dish...not so easy to mix it well.  Make sure you use the large bowl.  Then you can put the entire mixture into your greased baking dish (I used cooking spray, but you can also happily use butter) and even out.

Top with handfuls of chopped pecans....

Now at this point you can cover and refrigerate and bake the next day if you want, like my Baked French Toast recipe.  When you're ready to bake, pop the dish into your 375 degree oven for 40-50 minutes.  It should still be slightly creamy in the middle and the top slightly crunchy.  If you like it firmer, continue baking for another 10-15 mins.  While it's still warm, drizzle maple syrup generously (or honey!) all over the top, and let stand for at least 30 minutes.

Voila!  It's sweet and moist, and you get a nice chewiness from the cranberries, and a satisfying crunch from the pecans.

YUM.

I was also busy yesterday afternoon packaging my wooonderful Granola Bites for the bake sale.  The recipe is found here.  I did one batch of dates & cranberry with orange and yellow ribbons...

 ...and another of dates and apricot with green and brown ribbons.

Took forever, but I thought the effect was quite pretty. =)

If you tried any of these goodies at the Fall Festival today, please tell me how you liked it!  Any other favorites you had, or any new recipes you are planning on trying soon?  Do tell!  If you are a new visitor to Bentobloggy, please click the Follow button in the upper left corner of this blog, and you can also find me on Facebook here.  Thanks bunches!

5 Granola Bars

Ladies and gentlemen, these might be not only the best granola bars you've ever had, but also the easiest!  Bonus, they are pretty darn healthy as granola bars go.  They are miraculously both crispy and chewy at the same time.

You'll need:

1.5 cups rolled oats
1.5 cups Special K Berry cereal (or something like it, even Rice Krispies, or just use all oats)
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
2/3 cup slivered almonds (or other nut)
2 tbls whole flaxseed (opt)
1 cup chopped dried mango and craisins (or whatever dried fruit you like!)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter (I always use no-added sugar, so if you use PB with added sugar, you might want to cut back on the brown sugar a bit.)
1/2 cup honey
4 tbls butter
1 tbls vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Roughly chop the dried fruit

On a lipped dry cookie sheet combine all the oats, seeds, and nuts (except cereal.)

Toast for about 12 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes.  Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

Meanwhile, prep a small square or rectangle dish, about 11x13 or 9x9 for thicker bars.  Line it with wax or parchment paper, and lightly spray with cooking oil.

After about 12 minutes it'll be toasty brown, but make sure you don't take it too far because it will continue to brown on the sheet pan once you take it out of the oven, so give it a stir once or twice after you take it out too.

At this point you can put everything into a large mixing bowl with the dry cereal and fruit, and toss gently together.

In a non-stick saucepan combine the sugar, butter, vanilla, honey, salt and peanut butter until it just comes to a simmer.

Take it off the heat, and pour the sauce over the dry mixture.

Mix everything really well until everything is coated - if it's not, it will fall apart later.

Now, turn the bowl over into the square dish and distribute the mixture as evenly as you can with the spatula. Then, take another sheet of parchment paper and press down very hard all over (like Rice Krispie treats) so it is very compact.  Make sure the edges are as even and straight as possible.

Now here's the hard part...you have to wait at least 3-4 hours for it to cool completely.  It may even take longer.  But, if you don't wait, it will not have had enough time to "glue" together, and it will fall apart, and you don't want that!  Also, do not even think about putting this in the fridge to help it along.  I did that once.  It tasted amazing, but it fell completely apart.  Let it cool at room temp.

Are they cool yet?  Good!  Gently turn the granola out onto a large cutting surface.

Gently peel back the paper

Nice!

Take your longest, sharpest knife and cut carefully, but firmly straight down (don't saw.)

Now you can either cut them in half for long bars, or in thirds for small bars, or even in one-bite sized pieces.  I went the small bar route.

I wrapped all the remaining bars in individual parchment wrappers.  They'll last about 2 weeks or longer I'd guess at room temp, or you could certainly freeze the extra and take them out when needed.

Seriously folks, these are so good!