- Sweet Potato Pecan Bread

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook,

We have just been barked away from the plenteous bags of groceries brought into the home. (Yes, sometimes she barks, the girl Me.) So we are comforting ourselves at the computer, writing about food instead of tearing open bags of green beans. (I only took one as a taste. - Eli)

This is a great and yummy bread we made today and took over to the elders. It's moist and flavorful with minuscule fat and big healthy sweet potatoes involved. And it uses Me's favorite obscure spice, mace. Here it is, scavanged from about.com's southern food section with hound amendments.

Sweet Potato Pecan Bread

1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mace
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
stevia equivalent for another 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped dates
2 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce (we made our own)
4 tablespoons evaporated milk (or regular)
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes (we used them from the can)

Grease a bread pan. Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Add sugar, stevia, pecans, and raisins or dates. In a separate bowl combine egges, applesauce, milk and sweet potatoes. Stir to blend. Mix into dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour into greased pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 70 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes on wire rack, remove from pan, and finish cooling on rack.

Slice it up and slather with butter without feeling bad since it's nearly fat free to start with.