Rustic Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Bread and Maple Toasted Walnut Butter

 I love transforming leftovers into something new and creative...which is why when I had some leftover roasted sweet potatoes, instead of just eating them plain (as delicious as they are) I thought they would be a nice addition to some bread!  Not a quick bread, like you would serve with tea...a good hearty crusty bread, the kind you would use to mop up a thick soup or stew!  kneading yeast bread is a good stress reliever as well, and it is Monday, so I needed it! 

I wanted this bread to be a little savory, but still showcase the sweet potatoes, so I added a few minimal ingredients for add ins but nothing that would be too sweet or dessert like.  I added rosemary, to give it a good fallish aroma and flavor as well as some walnuts for crunch and some raisins for pops of flavor throughout the dough.  The bread was wonderful on its own, especially while it was still warm from the oven and it smelled just as good as it tasted!  Before it was out of the oven while it was still baking I decided to make some nut butter to compliment the bread. 

Walnuts were my choice, since they were already in the bread and would pair well with it.  I added a small amount of maple syrup and sea salt to my nut butter to bring out the toasty flavor of the walnuts and make it extra good!  The bread was delicious with the butter, and would be a great alternative to peanut butter toast for a snack!  If you would like to make either of the two for yourself, here are the recipes!

Rustic Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Bread

Makes 2 large loaves

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 packets of rapid rise yeast
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp sea salt
1 Tbsp dried rosemary

2 cups mashed sweet potatoes

1 cup flame raisins
1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
6-7 cups whole wheat pastry flour, plus more if needed

In a large bowl, combine yeast and water, and let sit 5 minutes. Add maple syrup, oil, sea salt, rosemary, and sweet potatoes and mix well. Stir in flour one cup at a time, until you have a dough that stiff and not too sticky, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead until elastic and smooth, about 8-10 minutes. If dough at any time seems too sticky, add a little more flour. Knead in raisins and walnuts until evenly distributed.  When dough is finished kneading, place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch dough down, and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Divide dough into two pieces and shape each into a long loaf. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise about 30 minutes, or until almost doubled in bulk. Slash each loaf crosswise 3 times, then the other way 3 times with a sharp knife, but just marring the surface and not cutting too deep. Brush each loaf with a little olive oil, and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake for about 40-50 minutes, or until golden brown, hollow sounding when tapped on the bottom the bread's internal temperature reads at 190-200 degrees. Let cool on a rack.

Maple Toasted Walnut Butter

Makes about 1 cup

1 1/2 cups toasted walnuts
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp walnut oil, or as needed
3/4 tsp sea salt

Place all ingredients in the food processor and process until smooth, adding more oil if needed.  Store in the fridge.