Thanksgiving: a gourmand's fantasy and a gourmet's nightmare. After a day of feasting, followed by a day of turkey-and-stuffing sandwiches, the last thing anyone wants to do is open the refrigerator again to find more leftovers, quickly becoming stale and begging to be eaten yet again.
But one can only have so many turkey sandwiches after Thanksgiving before going into a tryptophan-Turkey-induced coma and forsaking turkey entirely for another year. Thanksgiving seems to be the holiday that creates the most waste; so much food is made, so much food is eaten, but still so much food is thrown away. Instead of throwing away our leftovers, my mother and I got creative this morning and decided to make a batch of Sweet Potato "Pumpkin" Muffins using the leftover sweet potatoes that no one wanted to eat. These muffins are the perfect antidote to an over-indulgent Thanksgiving meal: they are moist, sweet, and seemingly indulgent, but they're actually very healthy and full of fiber to help digest the weekend's food frenzy. We call them "pumpkin" muffins to deceive our cousins who were wary of the idea of a vegetable in a muffin. We modified the recipe from the book "Smart Muffins" by Jane Kinderlehrer (New Market Press, 1987).
SWEET POTATO "PUMPKIN" MUFFINS
2 Eggs
3/4 cup mashed Sweet Potato
2 Tbsp canola oil
2/3 cup Apple Cider
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp molasses
1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/4 Soy Flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soad
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp grated orange rind
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 ground cloves
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 currants
Pumpkin seeds and cane sugar for garnish
Preheat oven to 400* Fahrenheit. Prepare 12 regular-sized muffin cups with baking muffin cups.
In a food processor, blend together eggs, sweet potato, oil, cider, honey and molasses so that the batter becomes light and fluffy.
In another bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and currants. Fold sweet potato mixture to dry ingredients a little at a time until mixture is completely incorporated. Do not overmix.
Spoon mixture into muffin tins. Sprinkle tops of muffins with pumpkin seeds and sugar crystals. Bake for 25-30 mins, until a toothpick comes out clean. The interior of the muffins will remain moist and soufflé-like.
Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee after Thanksgiving company is has left.
Bon appétit!
