Roar Recipes

Sugar and spice and all things nice, that’s the key to the perfect baked treats. Right? A balance of earthy spices and sweet notes definitely pleases my pallet, but unlike the old nursery rhyme, not all sweetness has to come from the sugar.

 

By using a combination of naturally sweet spices, fruits and even a roots vegetable, you can add new a dimension of flavours to your bakes that simultaneously add nutritional value and reduce the amount of refined sugar needed in the recipe.

 

But don’t simply take my word for it; here are a few truths to illustrate why substituting the simple sugar for these alternatives will do you the world of good.

 

Cinnamon, the dried inner bark of a tropical tree, has been used as a natural sweetener for thousands of years by a number of cultures, most notably in the Middle East and North Africa. Adding just a little to this recipe transforms these muffins from a simple tasty bite to a delicious and nutritious treat. Cinnamon has been attributed with many health benefits including increased blood sugar control, antifungal effects, relieving indigestion and even stimulating the brain.

 

Medjool Dates will add more than a deep caramel flavour to your muffins, these dried fruits will fuel your busy lifestyle too. With a varied nutritional profile, the dates will feed you with potassium, magnesium, antioxidants and fibre too.

 

Sweet Potato. It’s a shame these delicious roots have been labelled with the potato name, as their suggested relation couldn’t be further from the truth. Sweet potatoes aren’t potatoes at all; in fact they are more closely related to butternut squash and carrots. The orange colour is evidence of its beta-carotene content and abundant source of vitamin A, which you wont get from your ordinary potato

 

So without further ado lets get baking…

 

Ingredients.

 

3 eggs

⅓ cup of Full Fat Yoghurt

¾ cup Sunflower or Vegetable Oil

½ cup Almond Flour

1 cup Self Raising Flour

½ - ¾ cup Soft Brown Sugar

5-8 Medjool Dates

2 tsp. Baking Powder

½ tsp. Xantham Gum

1 cup Sweet Potato Mash (roughly 2 medium sized whole/raw)

1/8 cup of Pumpkin Seeds

1/8 cup of Pecan Halves

½ tsp. Intense Vanilla Extract

1½ tsp. Cinnamon

½ tsp. Nutmeg

1 tsp. Ground Ginger

½ tsp. Salt

 

Method.

 

Preheat your oven to 180c and begin by roasting your sweet potato. Cut the sweet potatoes into halves or quarters and roast for approximately 45-50 minutes until the flesh is soft. Separate the inner flesh from the skins and mash until smooth in a small bowl. Set this aside to cool.

 

Break the eggs into a mixing bowl, followed by your yoghurt, oil and cooled sweet potato mash (drain off excess water from sweet potato first). Beat together with a hand whisk until creamy and a little fluffy.

 

Using a blender, food processor or simply a sharp knife, chop the medjool dates into very small pieces, and then the pumpkin seeds and pecan halves in to slightly larger ones. Add these, along with the soft brown sugar and all of the spices to the creamy mixture and whisk again.

 

Next sift in the self-raising flour, almond flour and baking powder, followed by adding in the salt and xantham gum. Whisk all of the ingredients together until thoroughly combined.

 

Transfer the muffin mixture into 12 muffin cases or muffin trays. You may fancy topping each muffin with a couple of whole pumpkin seeds, rolled oats or broken pecans for decoration. Bake these in the oven for 20 minutes. When fully cooked the muffins ought to be golden and bounce back when poked. To test, insert a knife in to the centre of the muffin, when removed this should be clean. If not quite finished simply cook for a few extra minutes.

 

Enjoy these tasty treats hot or cold; morning, day or night!