What a busy, busy week! Between family staying with us, taking down Halloween decorations and putting up Christmas decor, there are not enough hours in a day. When the day is just not allowing you to stop and cook/prep a nice big meal, those bad eating habits tend to creep up on us. Those of us who are Paleo or Gluten-Free can probably relate. On these bustling days, we just want to sink our teeth into some gluten. For me, these busy days really test my willpower; that’s why I came up with a super quick and delicious fix. It is my Paleo Sweet Potato English Muffins.
Before I went Paleo, the English Muffin was one of my favorites among all of the breads. I had an English Muffin obsession. There is a wide array of ways to eat it. Be it buttered, jammed, sweet or savory. There is something for everyone, unless you don’t like English Muffins. Which would probably lead me to question which planet you hail from. That is why I came up with these quick and easy Sweet Potato English Muffins, to satisfy my dark cravings.
My mom played a big role in my love for the English Muffin. My elementary school in Hong Kong had two shifts, an early morning shift and an afternoon shift. My brother and I were enrolled in the afternoon shift, so we rarely ate breakfast. We would wake up, eat an early lunch, and get ready for school. So, whenever I get to have breakfast food, it was always a treat. During the weekends, we would have early piano lessons and we were treated to Mickey D’s Sausage Egg and Cheese McMuffin with a Hash Brown. I was instantly hooked! When I decide to go Paleo, it was tough giving it up but now, I have my Sweet Potato English Muffins to appease my English Muffin yearning.
There are many ways you can devour these Sweet Potato English Muffins. Today, instead of my sausage and eggs, we will make an eggs Benedict. The sweetness of the muffins creates a perfect balance with the savory Canadian bacon. It is super fast and easy to make with very few ingredients. That is why it is such a great thing to have on hand during a busy day or any day. These Sweet Potato English Muffins are the perfect Paleo grab and go foods. Without further ado, let’s make these bad boys!
Sweet Potato English Muffins:
1 – Soup Mug
2 Tbsp – Anti-Grain Sweet Potato Flour
1 Tsp – Tapioca Starch
1/2 Tsp – Kasandrino’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/8 Tsp – Baking Powder
Pinch – Salt
2 – Large Free Range Eggs
Eggs Benedict:
1 Pack – Uncured Canadian Bacon
1 Cup – Fresh Baby Spinach
3 Tbsp – Fresh Made Bacon Bits
1 Tsp – Powdered Dried Chives & Tarragon Leaves
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper – To Taste
Poached Eggs:
1 Tbsp – Vinegar Per Quart of Water
2 – Large Free Range Eggs
Pinch – Sea Salt
Smoky Hollandaise Sauce:
3 – Large Egg Yolks (Room Temp)
1 Tbsp – Water
1/4 Cup – Fresh Lemon Juice (Strained)
Salt – To Taste
1/2 Tsp – Ground Chipotle Pepper
1/4 Tsp – Smoked Paprika
4oz Stick Grassfed Butter/Ghee (Melted)
Of course I will start with talking about ingredients; I love ingredients. Sweet Potato Flour is very different than Sweet Potato Starch. The Flour is actually cooked and dried sweet potatoes that gets milled into a fine flour. The starch on the other hand is just the starch extracted from the sweet potatoes. The flour and starch yield very different results. I highly recommend using Anti-Grain Foods Sweet Potato Flour.
Baking Powder:
Most store bought baking powder contains cornstarch and that’s not very paleo friendly. You can make your own by mixing together one part baking soda, one part tapioca starch and two parts cream of tartar. It is that easy! You can keep a bottle of this Paleo friendly baking powder in your pantry and it really comes in handy.
Let’s start making the Sweet Potato English Muffins. Take your soup mug, mix together the sweet potato flour, tapioca starch, baking powder and salt. After the dry mixture is thoroughly mixed, add in eggs and Kasandrino’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil. You can use other oils, but I highly recommend Kasandrino’s because it is a Paleo Certified product and the quality is unmatched! Mix the eggs, oil and dry ingredients together until there are no lumps. Pop the mug into the microwave and nuke it for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. My microwave is 1200 watts, so the cooking time might slightly vary depending on the output of your own. I love these Sweet Potato English Muffins, because they are just so dang convenient.
After the Sweet Potato English Muffins are cooked, slice them in half and pop them in the toaster before consumption. You can make a few of these before hand and freeze them. The Sweet Potato English Muffins keep for a week or two and reheat very well. Let’s talk eggs Benedict now.
Poaching eggs is actually very easy. You can use one of the various egg poaching gadgets or you can use what you have at home. In a pot mix 1 tbsp of vinegar to every quart of water and a pinch of salt. So if you are heating up 3 quarts of water, add in 3 tbsp of white vinegar. Bring the water to a boil and than reduce the heat so it is no longer bubbling. If the water is bubbling, it will break apart the egg as soon as it hits the water. The trick here is to pour the egg into the water gently. To do so, crack the egg into a small bowl or cup instead of cracking the egg directly into the water. Pour the egg into the hot water slow and smooth. Let the egg poach for a few minutes until it floats. That is a good indication that it is cooked. Use a ladle or large spoon to remove the poached egg from the water. Keep the pot of water, we will use it for the Hollandaise sauce.
I recommend making the Hollandaise Sauce and toasting the Sweet Potato English Muffins last, so fry up the Canadian Bacon and bacon bits and set that aside. In a coffee grinder, pulse together 1 tsp of dried chives and 1 tsp of dried tarragon leaves. Pulse until it is almost a fine powder. We will sprinkle this over the eggs Benedict before we serve it. It really adds a good spark! The slight sweetness of tarragon and chives goes wonderful with the Sweet Potato English Muffins.
Hollandaise sauce is actually fairly easy to whip up. Remember the pot of water that we used to poach the eggs? We will use a metal/glass mixing bowl in combination with the pot of water as a double boiler. Heat the water to a simmer. In the mixing bowl, whisk together the three egg yolks, water, 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice and salt. Place the mixing bowl over the simmering water and whisk it vigorously. The trick here is to whisk constantly and not over heating the sauce. As soon as the yolks start to slightly thicken, start drizzling in the melted butter bit by bit while we continue to whisk. If you have made mayonnaise before, it has a similar concept. You want a custard consistency. If you overheat the egg yolks, it will turn into scrambled eggs. I remove the bowl from the heat as soon as I start adding in the butter/ghee. When you have whisked in all of the butter, mix in the chipotle pepper and smoked paprika. That’s it! You can also Youtube Hollandaise sauce. A good reference is Gordon Ramsey’s video.
To assemble the eggs Benedict, slice the Sweet Potato English Muffins in half and if you have not toasted them, toast them. On each half, lay a few leaves of baby spinach, put on two slices of fried Canadian Bacon and the poached egg. Spoon a generous amount of Hollandiase sauce over each half. Before serving, sprinkle on bacon bits, a pinch of powdered chives and tarragon, smoked paprika and fresh cracked peppercorn. That’s it! The upside to these Sweet Potato English Muffins is you can add in cinnamon and raisins and you have a sweet fix. There you have it, a paleo friendly eggs Benedict with my quick and easy Sweet Potato English Muffins. Until next time, eat up my friends!
I’m for sure going to show this article to a couple of my friends!
I would really appreciate that! I hope you all enjoy it 🙂