Note: this recipe gets a surprising number of views!  If you try it, I’d love to hear back from you how you liked it or whether you added your own experimental twist to make it even better.  🙂  Just leave a comment below.

For the first year of my gluten, dairy, sugar-free eating in support of my healing from Lyme disease I didn’t feel particularly compelled to experiment with gluten free baked goods since most gluten free recipes still have a fair amount of sugar in them (sugar is a big no-no for anyone on long-term antibiotics unless you want to play chicken with a possible bout of candida). But then I gave up the bits of 85% dark chocolate that I was eating in order to improve adrenal health and sleep and that became the straw that broke the camel’s back and thus began the gluten-free baking experiments. I say experiments since any recipe I find out there must be modified in some way so that it is gluten & dairy free and very-low in natural sugars.

My first experiment was this gluten-free pumpkin bread but when I went to make some the other day I discovered I didn’t have any pumpkin. So in my desperate girl staring at the pantry shelves mode I spied the last organic sweet potato and had my answer. I transformed the pumpkin bread recipe into a sweet potato bread recipe, problem solved.

I really like the hearty, yet tender consistency of this bread and appreciate the health supporting grains, sweet potato, coconut oil, cinnamon and heart-healthy nuts and seeds. If you normally eat sugar in your diet, you might want to add some molasses or honey to this recipe or you could simply put some honey or molasses on the bread when you eat it. Better yet, skip the sugar and smear some nice natural peanut or almond butter on it – yum!

Ingredients:
¾ c millet flour
½ c oat flour
1/3 c br. rice flour
¼ c spelt flour
1 tsp. b. powder
1 tsp. b. soda
1 tsp. Xanthum gum
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp sea salt
2 large eggs (lightly beaten)
1 sm sweet potato (about 1 cup) – cooked, then mashed
½ c organic apple sauce
¼ c coconut oil (melted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup walnuts, broken
¼ cup raw green pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

Optional modifications:

• add some chopped dried figs
• 1-2 Tablespoons Xylitol for a bit sweeter bread to share with your sugar eating family or friends
• Experiment!  Substitute in one of your favorite flours like coconut or almond flour for example.

Directions:

Microwave sweet potato til soft and then mash. (Or bake it in the oven with your dinner.)

Mix together all dry ingredients. Then, add in eggs, sweet potato, apple sauce, oil, & vanilla and beat together using care to not over-beat the mixture. Stir in walnuts & pumpkin seeds.

Grease a bread pan with coconut oil. (I just spread it on with my fingers.) Spread batter in pan. Bake at 350 deg. oven for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Extra tip – don’t waste that coconut oil that gets on your fingers when greasing the pan, rub it into your knuckles or dry spots on your hands. Your hands will thank you.

• Coconut oil – good for metabolism, thyroid function, cholesterol & is antimicrobial and antibacterial.  See more about this amazing oil.
• Pepitas or green pumpkin seeds are a good source of phytonutrients, minerals such as zinc, phosphorus and magnesium & Vitamin E.  See more.
  
• Cinnamon is said to help balance blood sugar & cholesterol be antifungal and inhibit bacterial growth.  See more.
  
• Whole grains – there is so much information out there about the benefit of whole grains – suffice it to say in order to get all the synergistic benefits of the vitamins, essential oils, fiber  and phyonutrients these plants have to offer, we need to consume the whole grain.  This website is full of the health benefits, history and ways to cook grains should you want to read more.