Playing Hooky (sort of)

It is a Monday morning, and I am sipping mango kombucha, eating sweet potato muffins, and typing a blog post. Well, more accurately, I am now chewing the last bite of sweet potato muffin (singular), as hubby and I have eaten an entire basket full of muffins since 10:00 last night. Yeah, we're muffin people. What can I say?


But I've digressed. My original point is that this is far from my normal Monday morning routine. You see, the ol' homestead is generally pretty hectic these days. For those of you who don't know, my husband is a full-time college student. He's also a full-time husband. And a full-time hobby homesteader on our sweet little rental property. And a part-time farm hand on a local organic farm  And a part-time butcher for a major grocery store chain (I use the term lightly... "butcher" brings up visions of entire cows being herded into a tiny, bloody room with a small man and a large knife, while in actuality these days, they just present the man with a sizable portion of already processed meat, which he then cuts into smaller pieces of meat and sells. not quite as thrilling as the other, I know). Anyway, the point is: hubby is a busy man. A handsome, handsome busy man that occasionally wears overalls and melts my little Southern heart :). And since he is in school, I work full-time for a national insurance company (while we count down the days until he graduates next May, and I become a stay-at-home-wife. then babies. lots of babies.). 


In the mean-time, though, I work your typical 8:30-5:30 office job, sitting on my bum, glued to a computer screen. And he goes to a college that often involves taking far-off field trips to heritage pig farms and lumber mills (jealous? I am). This means that mornings are a wee bit crazy around here and do not normally afford me the luxury of sitting around sipping tea and blogging. But today, mercifully, I am sick. Not sick enough to be utterly miserable, but enough to be rather contagious to the other non-sick people in my office. Just sick enough to still be in my pajamas, and not feel bad about it. And since my sweet potato muffins are nourishing my tired, aching, body, I thought I would share them with you. So without further ado, I present:


                 

Sweet Potato Scrumptiousness:

There are three main components to this simple equation. But they're all super flexible, so you can make these little bits of scrumptious however you please. I made the recipe up on the spot, so my feelings won't be hurt if you tweak it at all :).


1. Flour


I used a mixture of oat flour, almond flour, and white whole wheat since I had just a little bit of each lying around. You could easily make this grain-free by using almond flour for the whole recipe. Whatever flours you choose, you'll want to mix about a cup and a half in a bowl with a teaspoon of baking soda, a teaspoon of baking powder, and a tiny pinch of salt. Some flax would not go amiss here, but I completely forgot about it in the heat of the "I need something warm and sweet and soft RIGHT NOW" moment. You have those moments, too, right?


2. Spices


I'm obsessed with ginger. You'll learn this quickly. I also used cinnamon and nutmeg in this batch. If you are less lazy than I was last night, grind up some cloves and toss them in as well. Whisk these in with the flour mixture. 


3. The Sweet


We have no white sugar in our home. My plan was to make these with real maple syrup (organic grade B dark, please & thank you), which is absolutely out of this world delicious with sweet potatoes, but we were out. So I made do with our local raw wildflower honey (also out of this world delicious, by the way!) and some good, strong molasses. But the main source of delectable sweetness is, of course, the lovely sweet tater itself. I boiled it on low for about 20 minutes, then mashed it up with a dash of honey and molasses, splashed a bit of raw milk in it (the jug was almost empty, and I wanted to use it up). Mix this into the dry ingredients bowl until you have good wet, muffin consistency. Pour into a muffin tin, or muffin cups, or eat some raw batter (there's no egg, so no worries!). Bake at 350 degrees until you can prick it with a toothpick and the toothpick comes out clean. This took me 17 minutes, which drove  hubby up the wall ("Why not 15 minutes? Or 20 minutes?"). But 17 minutes works for me, and it may vary slightly for you. 

The recipe (feel free to print, pin, link, or distribute, but link back if you could!): 

         

Scrumptious. Enjoy with your favorite cup of tea. I served rooibos tropica (basically red tea with citrusy and coconut undertones). Tell me what you drank and I'll try it next time :).