Rosemary Sweet Potato Bread (Vegan)

Without even realizing it while I was making it, this dish is both earthy/Thanksgiving-y and has bananas in it, satisfying both of our most recent Suggestion Friday requests.

This is a vegan rosemary sweet potato bread, completely invented by yours truly. No eggs, no margarine or oil, no sweeteners. I wanted to create something warm and chunky for the cold weather that’s to come, yet healthy and lively. I heavily adapted my own vegan banana bread recipe and replaced most of it with sweet potato and herbs. Like I said, there is absolutely no added sugar—the sweetness of the rosemary potato with the added bananas really take control of this savory bread.

I’m proud of the way this came out and I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I did! Once it cooled, I wrapped it up in tin foil and I’ve been gobbling it up for breakfast with my tea/coffee all week. And if you don’t like sweet potato, I’m sure you can substitute this with pumpkin, or even butternut squash. Yummm.

[Recipe].

Fall is arriving and I don’t know what to do with myself! What do you mean summer is over?! I was just sunbathing on the beach last week!

Well, as seasons change, so do diets. Colder weather means heartier meals and warm, earthy flavors. Since it’s not exactly autumn yet, I decided to make a transitional snack to keep your tummy full and your mind back to the books.

Why not kick it off with everyone’s favorite healthy nut? Almonds!

Here are some scrumptious sweet & savory almond clusters. Using homemade roasted almonds, sweet coconut, and caramel, how can you resist making them? This nutty snack has earthy flavors with a chewy tropical twist.

Note: If you don’t like almonds, how dare you! this would also taste good with nearly any other type of nut.

[Recipe].

P.S. We just hit 50 followers! We’re so elated about this. Just keep reblogging and share the love. :)

Remember that photo of an avocado and black beans I posted on Thursday? Believe it or not, this is the product of those two ingredients (with a few more added in).

When I saw Cara’s recipe for black bean and avocado brownies, I knew I had to make them right off the bat. That is exactly what The Baking Duet is all about: experimentation and surprises. It also helped that the main ingredients are very readily available in South Florida…and our posts have been very Cuban-based lately. Did you notice that?

They tasted good, but they weren’t perfect. (Pictured above is the result of trying the recipe three times—the first two came out flat as a pancake).

I want to put my own twist on it and see if I can reduce the amount of white sugar in the recipe while maintaining that chocolate taste. I already have a few ideas up my sleeve. So keep in tune!

Note: Whatever you do, don’t use Cuban style black beans. I made the mistake of using that can in Thursday’s photo, but it’s seasoned with herbs and the taste will come out in the brownies. Sorry! Just use a can of Goya beans.

Finally! An actual food post!

Here’s my berry frozen yogurt with chocolate chips. Summer is dwindling down and people are already preparing for fall, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy what’s left of it. Whip up a simple fro yo to beat those last minutes of heat before they’re gone.

This recipe is non-ice cream maker friendly too.

[Recipe].

Guess what? It’s Tea Time Tuesday once again!
Should I start calling this T³?

Here are some Chinese marbled eggs I made. Natalie actually recommended this to me. The two in the front are made with red tea, and the blue one is made from boiling red cabbage. See how cool the shells look?!

[How-to].

Natalie came to my house yesterday! We made a gluten free version of this delicious blueberry pull apart bread. We just replaced the all purpose and wheat flour with a gluten free alternative. It came out so much better than we expected.

We also used Splenda for more healthiness (not that it’s that good for you, anyway).

In light of all of our friends going to the beach, Natalie and I decided to meet up and make our own fun. With apples on hand, we figured it would be a good idea to make some apple chips. (They’re pretty difficult to make, let me tell ya).

Here’s the recipe:

• Preheat the oven to 200°F.
• Slice some apples really thinly. 
• Arrange on a cooling rack so that they’re not overlapping.
• Take them out after 1-2 hours and enjoy. 

Were you expecting more steps?

I chose two things to make today that take hours to finish, and they probably won’t be ready to photograph until tomorrow. (One of them is tea-based, and this Tuesday I’ll be establishing Tea Time Tuesday, so I’ll post that experiment then instead of now).

Here’s a little sneak preview of the second thing I’m making…Anyone want to guess what it is?