Sweet Potato & Sweet Smoked Paprika Bread

This summer has been pretty disappointing. We had some glorious weather early on and that was about it. With the cooler weather lately I have already been thinking of fall/autumn flavors. Dinner has already started changing from chicken salads and sandwiches to creamy delicious macaroni and cheese and cottage pies! If dinner is already changing why not my baking!

With bread being the star of The Great British Bake Off this week, plus I just received a new bread book, and I had a whole bag of strong white flour in my cupboard I thought I’d make a loaf of bread! With fall/autumn like weather I decided to go with a sweet potato and paprika flavored bread.

You know how when decorating a room you either have plain walls with decorative accessories or you have fun wall paper and plan accessories. That’s how bread is. You either have plain bread with flavor packed toppings or flavor packed bread with butter or for dipping in soup. If done tastefully you can decorate a room with wallpaper and colorful accessories and that goes for bread too. If you know how to pair it just right you get yummy fillings/toppings to go with your flavor packed bread.

Well, after that load of ramble here is how I made this loaf of Sweet Potato and Paprika bread. The recipe comes from Simply Good Bread: Delicious home-baked recipes for everyone by Peter Sidwell. Somewhat adapted as my method varied from his direct instructions. The title says it all the recipes all seem pretty simple and easy for everyone. There are even instructions for those who are using a bread maker.

Sweet Potato & Sweet Smoked Paprika bread

200g sweet potatoes, baked/soft
500g strong white bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fast action yeast (about 1/2 of a 7g sachet)
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
300ml water
1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika

Start by baking the potato(s) and mashing them. Set aside.
Mix the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a measuring jug measure the water before adding the yeast, sugar, and paprika - stir to combine.
Make a well in the centre of the flour/salt and pour the liquid mixture in the middle. Add the mashed potatoes before using a spatula gently bring the dry and liquid ingredients together before using your hands to start to work the dough. Once it starts to come away from the bowl tip out on to a well floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. The dough is sticky so keep floured and have a dough scraper near by.
Once kneaded place back in the bowl and leave to rise until doubled in size should take 30-40 minutes in a warm place.
When it’s ready gently tip it out and knock it back or gently knead for about a minute. Then place in a 1kg or 2lb loaf tin, grease if it’s not non-stick. Leave to double in size while you pre-heat the oven to 200C.
Bake in the heated oven for 40 minutes until golden brown on top. Gently tip the loaf out and knock on the bottom, if it sounds hallow then it’s ready. If not cook for 5-10 more minutes.
Slice and enjoy!

notes: I hope break week on The Great British Bake Off encourages you to give bread a go! If you do you should enter it into Jen’s Food and Utterly Scrummly’s Bread Challenge - Bready Steady Go! I did!

To see a few other books I recently added to my bookshelf beside's Mr. Sidwell's check out my last post here!

Hummus & Carrot Sticks

My blog is for the most part about the sweeter side of food. That is because I genuinely enjoy sweet foods.

However my blog probably gives a false impression on my eating habits. I have had more then one of my friends comment on how much cake I must eat.

To be honest I don’t, I eat one or two slices/pieces/squares/cookies etc… then the rest is shared among my friends and family.

“Everything in moderation,” is something that I try to live by for everything I do in my life.

Including my cake eating habits.

If I really ate sweet stuff 24/7 I would be way unhealthy and my teeth would have probably fallen out of my face by now.

When I saw a competition on the Simplyhealth website asking bloggers to share a recipe that used one of the ingredients listed here (page removed). I thought it would be a great opportunity to share something that I enjoy eating that isn't cake or cookies and that is good for you! 

My favorite lunch is hummus and carrot sticks. It is also my girls’ favorite lunch, I have taught them well.

Hummus is so easy to make at home, you throw everything into a food processor and lunch is made. It’s also a great base to add different flavors. This one just has some hot sauce drizzled on top to give it a bit of a kick. 

Hummus served with Carrot Sticks:

1 can of chickpeas

3 ½ tbsp of chickpea liquid

2 tsp tahini

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp sea salt    

1-2 tbsp white wine vinegar

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Pinch of Paprika

Hot sauce (optional)

Carrot Sticks

Drain the chickpeas, but reserve the liquid. Place the chickpeas, tahini, garlic clove, salt, chickpea liquid, and vinegar in a food processor. Pulse a couple of times before adding the olive oil. Blend until completely smooth.

Place in a dish and drizzle with hot sauce and scoop up with carrots!

Carrots are good for you because they have a lot of Vitamin A, which is a great way to keep your teeth happy and healthy. Also carrot sticks can act as a natural toothbrush! Bonus!

notes: I have entered this competition, hosted by Simplyhealth, on my own accord. For more information please see my contact/policy page above. There is still time to enter if you are interested!