One-ingredient Sweet Potato Latkes (Pancakes)!

(AIP compliant, paleo, vegan, gluten-free, grain-free)

Cooking – and eating – can get kind of boring when you are dealing with food restrictions, particularly when you are on an elimination-type diet, such as the Autoimmune Protocol (aka AIP or “The Paleo Approach”).  Plus, you generally have to spend a lot of time on meal preparation when you aren’t using any processed foods or if you are also accommodating non-AIP eaters, like picky children (or spouses).  So when you want to make something a little special, it can be challenging. This recipe is perfect not only for a festive dinner, but also when you are just getting a little bored with your everyday options.  It is easy and special!

Okay, so depending on how you count them, there may be more than one ingredient.  Let’s say three:  sweet potatoes, salt, and coconut oil.  That’s it!

 

So what holds these yummy little latkes together, you might ask? (Not eggs, flour, or milk, like in a traditional latke recipe!) Mixing mashed, roasted sweet potato together with grated, raw sweet potato!

 

And these golden gems are baked, not fried, so they don’t stick to the pan, fall apart, and smoke up your kitchen causing your smoke detector to start screaming.  (Am I the only one who sets off the smoke detector every time I cook?)

 

Here goes the recipe:  (Remember, I’m not a food blogger, per se, so this is new territory for me.  I’ll do my best to describe the process for you.)

 

Makes about 12 latkes, 3” in diameter.

 

Ingredients:

½ large roasted sweet potato, peel removed

1 large raw sweet potato, peeled and grated

Sea salt to taste (I used a generous ½ t., but I like salt.)

2 T. coconut oil, melted

Baking tray lined with parchment paper*

 

*You could probably just generously grease the tray with a thick layer of coconut oil, but the parchment paper makes it soooo much easier and keeps them from sticking and/or falling apart.

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Cover the parchment paper with the melted coconut oil.  The oil gives them the mouth feel of fried latkes, plus a hint of the coconut flavor.

 

Mash your roasted sweet potato in a medium bowl. I usually roast a few every time I use the oven, so I generally have extras on hand.

 

Peel and grate raw sweet potatoes into a large bowl.  I use a box grater for a coarse grate, but you could certainly use a food processor or even do it in a Vitamix or other high-speed blender to save some work.  (If using a high-speed blender, follow your machine’s instructions for grating hard vegetables.)

 

Add some (roughly ¾ of your mixture) of the mashed sweet potatoes into the grated sweets.  Add sea salt to taste.  It works best if you use your hands to mix.  Press the mixture together so that it holds its shape.  If they aren’t sticking well, add more mashed sweet potato, until you can make a firm pancake that holds together.  (Alternatively, you could add starch, such as arrowroot powder to the mix, if that agrees with you, but it shouldn’t be necessary.)

 

Using about ¼ c. of the mixture per pancake, form them patties and place them on your baking sheet. Put it into the oven.  When the edges are starting to brown and the bottoms are golden brown, it is time to flip them. In my oven this took about 20 minutes, so start checking them at the 15- minute mark.  Flip them carefully and return to oven until the other side is golden brown.  This was about another 10 minutes for me.  (In the photo the edges of the pancakes look darker than they were in reality.)

 

Remove and place on a serving tray.  They are yummy served with whipped coconut cream, or you could serve with a more traditional applesauce or – even better- a cranberry-apple sauce!

 

I hope you enjoy these!  Please let me know what you think in the comments below.