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I’ve declared it Sweet Potato Week here at HEAB.
It all started when I received this package in the mail from the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission.
Sweet Potato Biscotti – for the recipe, click here. Many thanks Sweet Potato Commission!
Along with the biscotti, I received some literature and recipes. I immediately made the Sweet Potato Cottage Pie...
Mmm, that was good!
According to the NC Sweet Potato Commission, some facts about this wonderful root vegetable:
1) The sweet potato is packed with beta carotene, vitamin C, potassium, and magnesium.
2) You get a lot of bang for you buck when it comes to sweet potatoes. Out of a list of 300 commonly eaten foods, including fresh vegetables, fruits, grains, and various convenience foods, the new food rating system called the Affordable Nutrition Index ranked the sweet potato 3rd when it came to delivering nutrition per food dollar.
3) Sweet potatoes are considered a medium to low glycemic index food, and research has shown that sweet potatoes may actually stabilize blood sugar and lower insulin resistance.
I’ve always had a special place in my heart for sweet potatoes. Well, come to think of it, that’s not entirely true. I HATED sweet potatoes growing up and refused to eat them. I discovered the goodness when I started losing weight, and I’ve been obsessed with them ever since. In my opinion, there is nothing like an ooey-gooey oven baked sweet potato. I could seriously eat one…or two everyday. So, I’ve decided to celebrate the love of one of my favorite vegetables with as many sweet potato recipes as I can whip up this week, starting today with Pancake Sunday.
I know what you’re thinking…Haha, Heather burnt the sh*t out of her sweet taters this morning, but not so my friends. Nope, not burnt…just roasted in dark cocoa powder. I bet that got your attention, no? 
Inspired by this recipe I received from Clare, I made cocoa roasted sweet potatoes for one.
Ingredients:
1 medium sweet potato, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 TSBP coconut oil, melted
1 TBSP Hershey’s dark cocoa powder
1 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
dash of cayenne pepper
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 375℉. Stir coconut oil, cocoa powder, maple syrup, cinnamon, salt, and cayenne pepper together. Add sweet potato chunks and stir to coat. Then spread chunks on a foil lined baking sheet and bake 45 to 50 minutes. Your kitchen will smell amazing!
Serve over Polly’s simple almond flour pancakes with coconut butter.
And that’s how you celebrate Pancake Sunday sweet potato style! 
{ 83 comments… read them below or add one }
Seven whole days devoted to one of the best veggies?
.
I like your thinking, my friend. But then again I always have
Oh um, yeah and the cocoa powder and coconut butter? Well, you’ve managed to get three of m favorite foods into one recipe. Now all you have to do is add some broccoli… hmmm, would that be weird?
Katie,
Nah, I think some coconut oil roasted broccoli with cinnamon would make a lovely side dish.
Honestly, when I looked at those potatoes, I thought- wow someone else who likes her veggies a little overdone! LOL But they also do sound really good with cocoa. I always thought I hated sweet potatoes growing up, but my only exposure to them was on Thanksgiving with the gooey clumps of them dumped straight from the can to the dish and smothered in butter and marshmellows…I still don’t like that stuff but I always pick up sweet potatoes every time I go grocery shopping and they are my most favorite veggie!
Oh, divine Sweet Potato, what would I do without you?! I made sweet potato, egg, and spinach tacos on my homemade tortillas this morning, but I HAVE to replicate these chocolate sweet potatoes… OMG!!
Hi Doll – I hated them growing up too. Maybe it just took a while for our palates to mature (or maybe we really do get wiser with age). We baked a few for Thanksgiving, but we were too full to eat them. I’ll try to do something creative with them this week. Thanks for the inspiration!
Haha, yeah, they did look burnt. Cocoa powder roasted! Heck yeah! Looks like a perfect way to start the week! Have a great Sunday Heather!
Roasted in cocoa powder??? BRILLIANT!!! Love
Sweet potatoes roasted in cocoa powder! That blows my mind. I feel like I need to make some kind of chocolate-sweet potato baked good now.
This is so much fun
I am a sweet potato fanatic. In fact, I have eggs and sweet potato on the meal plan for tonight. That cottage pie looks amazing. Hope you are enjoying your Sunday
Hi Heather. Trying to catch up with you here. It has been a while I know. I agree with you when I was growing up I was not a fan of the sweet potato because my mom use to burn them until they were tasteless but now I cook them just right and love them even with NOTHING on them at all. MMMMM sweet potatoes. And yes, I did think you burned them and although I am a chocolate lover the cocoa thing seems a bit weird to me but whatever floats your boat
Congratulations on your baby! 
Stay well my friend.
Lori
Lori,
Good to hear from you.
P.S. I love my baked sweet potatoes plain as well. They need nothing, but I must admit they’re pretty darn good with coconut oil and cocoa powder!
Yep, I was thinking that they’re burnt, too.
Hehehehe.
oh yummy! hehe I am glad you did not burn the taters. Aren’t those pancakes SO yummmm?
We had just did “church” at home today while Ab is recovering from he migraine yesterday. We prayed and Abbi’s request was the same, a few special ones including Heather her baby Summer. We love that sweet potato. XO
Polly,
Yes, but I messed up the pancakes. I read your recipe a couple of days ago and thought I remembered it correctly, but the batter was soooo thick. So, I thinned it with some water – like 1/4 to 1/2 a cup, and before I added the water, I was thinking How on earth did Polly make pancakes out of this? Well, turns out I only used 3 eggs instead of 6. Oops. Next time, I’ll double check the recipe before I try to make it. Still yummy though. Please tell Abbi I hope she is feeling better today…Summer does as well.
Seeing those “burnt” sweet potatoes definitely made me laugh. I never knew the fact about the “nutrition per dollar” type idea for affordability. I’m gonna look up some more similar foods!
Yes!! A week full of the best vegetable out there
I bet those biscotti are awesome.
So I have only had sweet potato once. And it was in the form of a french fry. I need to get out more.
Sana,
Yes you do! So many sweet potato possibilities for you to sample – enjoy!
Sweet potato week!? No need to say more! I can’t wait to see all of the delicious recipes you come up with
I don’t know which to drool over more, the sweet potato cookies or your cocoa roasted sweet potatoes!!! Wow!
Sweet Potato week?!
Count me in, hahaha!
And, Heather – thank you SO much for your advice. Remembering that food’s only food is exactly what my Mom keeps saying to me. Thanks for helping me out so much
Oh – and congratulations on Summer’s birth! My baby brother is now 2 months old and I have to admit that, even though babies might cry and spit and fart (haha) a lot, they’re adorable. I fall in love with baby Miguel each and everyday, more and more!
Wish you a great weekend!
Brazilian XOXO’s,
Gabriela
Gabriela,
Anytime.
p.s. Good to know Summer isn’t the only baby that farts a lot.
Mmm I love pumpkin pancakes so I can only imagine sweet potato pancakes would be awesome too!
I am sooo excited for your posts this week! I just bought a plethora of sweet potatoes at the store yesterday! Weeee!
I am celebrating my first Pancake Sunday in a long time! No sweet taters, just plain ol’ buttermilk (the boyfriend surprised me and made them while I was still sleeping
) but this recipe might be on the menu next weekend! Have a great day.
Courtney,
Your boyfriend is a good man.
lol – I thought they were burnt but I like things really crispy…but cocoa powder? Genius! Absolutely yummy.
I tired that homemade Resees cup idea . . . in snicker doodle oat bran. Umm, you were right!
Adding salt, vanilla, and a tiny bit of agave boosts the combo even more! Thanks Heather!
Sami,
Thanks for trusting me.
I kind of feel like the world is a better place because there is a sweet potato commission.
Sweet potato week
!! I can’t wait for the recipes! I think I might try the sweet potato cottage pie for dinner one night this week – I can’t get over how good it looks/souds.
Georgie,
Try it – it’s really good!
Roasted in dark chocolate? Shut your face! Omg, I need these!
I LOVE sweet potatoes…definitely looking forward to this week’s posts!
I typically eat sweet potatoes and tortillas every day. It has become a habit. Or a rut!
TSB,
A very good habit to have.
YUMM! YAy. I do have one to two everyday ahha:)
That cottage pie looks awesome. I saved that to try soon.
Sweet potato roasted in cocoa powder sounds really interesting! Love sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes always made me sick to my stomach and I never knew why. I’ve tried and tried. Then on Thanksgiving I made a sweet potato casserole and it was like the heavens opened and angels started singing, IT WAS SOOO GOOD! I think it was the highlight of my Thanksgiving hehe- I did not get sick and could not stop eating! This recipe sounds sooo good, especially with the coconut oil. I think I’m going to have to try it!
Felicia,
I’m so glad the sweet potato casserole didn’t make you sick. I hope your cured for life!
Sweet potatoes, baked and then eaten with a smidge of butter and cinnamon…best food EVER.
I’m excited to see your recipes this week!
I’m definitely roasting my next sweet potatoes in cocoa powder!!!! Yum!!!
I also loooove them oven-baked, probably even more than white potatoes!!!!
Healthy Chocoholic,
Sweets are so much better. I enjoy white potatoes, but I LOVE sweet potatoes!
I totally thought that sweet potato was burnt to a crisp!! Who would have thought cocoa powder?! Awesome
Love the cocoa sweet potato idea
YUM
And I need to try making some sweet potato biscotti- YAY
~Lori
I will be celebrating all week with ya!
What a brilliant idea- cocoa powder.
I am trying that asap!
I am a big fan of theme weeks, and sweet potato week sounds just up my alley.
I need to try that roasted combo too. Love me some coconut oil and cocoa powder.
Affordable Nutrition Index –that’s very cool that you mention that b/c good, clean wholesome food does NOT have to cost a fortune! I feed a family, daily, 3 squares and tons of snacks each, for what some of these girls spend on one trip to the WF’s hot bar
I love being frugal with food and proving that good and healthy does not have to be hard to source or obtain, or prohibitively priced!
As for anything rolled in cocoa powder, coconut oil, and maple…WOW. I am totally doing this with some odds and ends veggies I need to roast and use up!
Great idea!
Averie,
I’m guilty of spending way too much at the WF hot bar – I think my record is $18, but never again. CD and I have saved so much money since we started our new grocery budget a few months ago. I’m so embarrassed by how much I used to spend – it was obscene.
I dearly love sweet potatoes and must try some of these soon. Our sweets here on Guam are yellow, and yams are orange, so the color isn’t as vibrant in recipes, but tastes just as good. First up…biscotti. I have 3 extra guests in my home for 2 1/2 weeks and they’re going through coffee like its candy!
Sam,
Can I come visit and drink all your coffee. I miss it so. I’ll bring the biscotti.
Open Door Policy at Casa Simons, come along! I’ll have the coffee on.
Hmm…is it wrong that they look appealing to me as being burnt even?…love the burnt, roasted root vegetables…what can I say?
I hated them growing up, too—and I still don’t go for them in a sweet capacity. I like them spicy! Your comment about the “blackened” sweet potatoes was awesome, though. Nice to see that exhaustion hasn’t dampened the old HEAB spirit!
i bought red and white taters this week and you go pulling this one on me HEAB. seriously. haha *goes back to store* this looks so tasty and they are a nice cheap way to get in some good stuff! bonus=they taste so good!
I think I have inadvertently dedicated my blog to sweet potato for the past seven days too. My mother in-law gave me like 12 sweet potatoes and I’ve been trying to use them up for the past several weeks.
Haha, I did think they were burnt at first glance!
Fun fact: Okinawans are one of the five pockets of people in the world where more people live to be 100 or older per capita, and at one point, during WWII, I believe, 80% of their diet consisted of sweet potatoes. Obviously they do a body good!!
J3nn,
I believe it!
Oh my gosh! Totally going to have to try this one time!
I love sweet potatoes but after all the orange I’ve eaten since Thursday I’m feeling like I’m sweet potatoed and squashed out. For now…
HOWEVER–roasted in chocolate?? Yeah, that might change my mind…
I think you have hit on the one and only way to make plain roasted sweet potatoes better. I am generally a purist when it comes to these things, but when chocolate enters the fold, all bets are off.
pretty sure anything with cocoa tastes better!!
enjoy your night
Eeee! My mom surprised me with cocoa roasted butternut squash topped with slivered almonds on Thanksgiving. She got the recipe from our local newspaper. She thought it was SO weird that she didn’t put it out for our meal and didn’t tell me about it until everyone left. I absolutely LOVE it and have been eating it nonstop since. It’s like mole squash! In fact, I’m eating it right now
Gloria,
I bet that’s the same recipe I used – too funny. I didn’t have any slivered almond on hand, but I bet it adds a really nice crunch. I also think it would taste great with unsweetened shredded coconut. So funny your mom saved it until everyone left – they all missed out, but more for you!
I love sweet potatoes! For Thanksgiving I made a great (and healthy) sweet potato casserole!
7 days of sweet potatoes!?!?! Bring it on!
oh…my…gawd
Those look absolutely divine. I was about to go make a batch of chipotle-roasted sweet potato chunks, but you’ve got me rethinking that plan. Now I’m pondering twice-roasted sweets w/cinnamon and dark chocolate cocoa powder.
Aww, what the h*ll! I’ll make both!
Thanks, as always, for the inspiration!
Marie,
Can I come over?
Absolutely!!!
I hate sweet potatoes as a kid too and now I can’t get enough of them. They are the jack of all trade food. I love that they can be eating savory or sweet and anything goes.
Amazing heather!!! Those look so good!
Wow, I couldn’t be more excited for sweet potato week– LOVE them! I only bought two at the grocery store tonight, though. I have a feeling I will be going back.
You’re so right. I totally thought your burnt the sh*t out of those babies.
I’m so excited you’re devoting a week to lovely sweet potaters– as they are my FAV. I, too, could eat a couple a day, in fact, that’s my dessert most nights. Smothered with a bit of almond butter and coconut oil and I’m set
Love the idea for cocoa roasted sweet potatoes, too! Coconut oil is always my go to ingredient….
Mmmmm, sweet potato!! I’m having a clear-out-my-kitchen-cupboards week this week, but maybe some sweet potatoes can help me use some of the ingredients! Yay!
You know when I had my first newborn, I could barely remember where the bathroom was let alone come up with yummy recipes! Can’t wait to try these cocoa taters.
Oh wow. You had me with coconut oil and cacao, but adding cinnamon and cayenne too? Now I have to try this!
lmao at the burnt comment. lol! i did think that! i love sweet potatoes….so do my pups.
i’m currently sporting a bad fake tan…these sweet taters are getting the best of me! hehe. LOVE the pic of your beautiful girl…she is such a little angel!
I roasted some butternut squash cocoa powder and cayenne…my goodness, possibly the best squash I have ever had!!!!!
Ashton,
Go glad you enjoyed. Thanks for letting me know.
I love sweet potatoes! I am definitely going to try this recipe for cocoa roasted sweet potatoes. They look yummy.
Um…I am going to go and buy some sweet potatoes tomorrow and try this. Looks divine.
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