This past weekend I ran The Other Half in Moab, Utah. It’s a gorgeous (except for the uphills into the wind) course along the Colorado River. I can’t say I ran fast, but I crossed the finish line! For me, a large part of having a successful race is having my nutrition right. Since we were staying in a hotel the night before the race I planned ahead and brought my breakfast with me. Two hard-boiled eggs and two of these yummy sweet potato bars powered me through the race. I discovered the recipe for these bars on another paleo blog, http://www.paleotable.com. The first time, I followed the recipe as written, without the optional dates and chocolate topping. The bars were delicious, but I decided to add some nuts and dried cranberries to make the texture a bit more interesting. One of my favorite things about this recipe is that there is no added sweetener. If you want a sweeter version, I would suggest adding in some chopped dates or some dark chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

1 cup sifted coconut flour

1/4 cup flax meal

2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 15oz can sweet potato puree

4 eggs

3/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1/2 cup full fat coconut milk

1 Tsp vanilla extract

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 cup dried cranberries, unsweetened or sweetened with apple juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine coconut flour, flax meal, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl, whisk to combine

Combine sweet potato puree, eggs, coconut oil, applesauce, coconut milk and vanilla in the bowl of a food processor. Process until light and airy.

Add the sweet potato mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir to thoroughly combine. Stir in nuts and cranberries. The batter will be very thick.

Spoon the batter into a 9x13in baking dish that’s been greased with coconut oil. Spread the batter into an even layer.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. The toothpick test doesn’t work on these bars because the batter is so thick.

Cool for 15 to 30 minutes before cutting.

I like to store these in the refrigerator so they stay nice and firm.

Enjoy.

My friend Lis and I at the finish. What a great weekend!