good to the grain

I love cookbooks. I also love checking out cookbooks from the library. Today, for instance, I went for an afternoon stroll and picked up Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain- I'd requested it at the Western Addition Library a few weeks ago and it had finally arrived.  I'm not much of a baker, but that's why the library offers me a perfect solution. I'd heard such glowing reviews of this book that I wanted to get a peek at it myself. It's a baking book with a bunch of recipes using whole-grain flours like barley and amaranth. Intriguing, no? Well, if you can consider muffin ingredients intriguing.


Sweet Potato Muffins from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce

3/4 lbs sweet potatoes
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/2 stick cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
6 large Medjool dates, pitted and finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment and roast the sweet potatoes for 1-1 1/2 hours until they're tender when pierced with a fork. Set aside to cool, then peel and leave whole.
Lower the oven to 350. Rub muffin tins with butter
Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring back into the bowl any bits of grain or other ingredients that may remain in the sifter. In a small owl, whisk together the buttermilk and yogurt.
Add the butter and the sugars to the bowl of a standing mixer. Attach the paddle and mix on high speed until the butter and sugars are light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Ass the egg and half of the sweet potatoes and mix on medium speed for about 1 minute, until thoroughly combined.
On low speed add the dry ingredients and mix until partly combined. Add the buttermilk mixture and mix until combined. Add the chopped dates, separating them over the surface of the batter so they don't clump together. Add the remaining sweet potatoes and mix until barely combined; there should be pockets of sweet potatoes in the batter.
Scoop the batter into 10 muffin tins using a spoon. The batter should be slightly mounded above the edge.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes,rotating the pans halfway through. The muffins are ready when their bottoms  are dark golden in color. Take the tins out of the oven, twist each muffin out, and place it on its side in the cup to cool.