Sweet Potato Blintz with Pecans, Kumquats & Blueberry Compote

Blintz' are thin pancakes similar to crepes with the exception that blintz batter can have yeast in the batter. They can be sweet or savory and filled with just about anything you can imagine. For the sake of not standing over the stove making one blintz at a time, I made a baked blintz which was incredibly simple to make and resulted in the same soft, fluffy layers you would get if you made them one by one.

Two layers of sweet potato blintz pancakes baked around pecan cream cheese filling with blueberry compote and kumquats.

Sweet Potato Blintz
serves 4
1 small sweet potato
1/2 cup plus 2 tbl almond milk
1/4 cup water
2 tbl canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 oz firm, silken tofu
1/2 cup plus 2 tbl all-purpose flour
1 tbl organic brown sugar
1 tbl baking powder

Preheat the oven to 425. Prick the sweet potato with a fork and roast directly on the oven rack for 45 minutes or until fork tender. Peel and place cooked potato in a food processor.
Reduce the heat to 350. Grease an 8x8 baking dish.
Add the milk, water, oil, vanilla and tofu. Blend until smooth. Add the flour, brown sugar and baking powder.  Blend until smooth.
Pour half of the batter into the dish and bake for 10 minutes until just set.
Spread all of the pecan cream filling on top then top with the remaining blintz batter. Bake for 30 minutes until firm.
Let cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Pecan Cream Cheese Filling
1 cup toasted pecans
6oz vegan cream cheese
3 oz firm, silken tofu
1/4 cup plus 2 tbl organic light brown sugar
1 tbl orange zest
1 tbl orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Blend the pecans in a food processor for 3-4 minutes until they are finely ground. Add the cream cheese, tofu, brown sugar, zest, juice, vanilla and salt. Blend until smooth.

Blueberry Compote
2/3 cup organic cane sugar
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tbl cornstarch
10 oz frozen blueberries, thawed
4 kumquats, thinly sliced

Combine the sugar, water, orange juice and cornstarch. Whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes until thick. Add the blueberries and simmer 5 minutes more. Garnish the blintz with sauce and kumquat slices.

Maple Whoopie Pies with Coconut Cream, Walnuts & Pecans

These whoopie pies get their great maple flavor from two different forms. Maple syrup is used in both applications and maple sugar crystals are used in the cake recipe.
Maple sugar crystals might be harder to find if you don't live in an urban area, with natural food stores or co-ops. I know that the Whole Foods near me sells it in small expensive bags. Luckily a co-op near my house has it in bulk. At $19.99 a lb, I bring a measuring scoop to the store and portion out only what I need, which came to about $4 for what this recipe calls for. It's not absolutely necessary to use this type of sugar, but it is a great sweetener and why not impart more true maple flavor in your maple whoopie pies?
Pancake syrup is never a substitute for anything requiring maple syrup in my recipes. That stuff is garbage in both flavor and nutrition and it is worth the extra money to buy maple syrup. Standards people!

Soft maple cake/cookie hybrids sandwiched around maple infused coconut cream and rolled in toasted pecans and walnuts spiced with fleur de sel and a pinch of cinnamon.

Maple Whoopie Pies
1 1/2 tsp ener-g egg replacer powder
2 tbl warm water
3/4 cup maple sugar crystals, plus more for sprinkling (or use organic dark brown sugar)
6 tbl canola oil (or 6 tbl earth balance vegan butter, soft)
1/2 cup regular or vanilla oat milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp maple extract
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 1/4 cup ap flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt

Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.
(**If you forgot to chill your coconut cream before starting this recipe, not a problem. Pop it in the freezer now and let it chill while you make the cookies. Once the cookies are cool and you are ready to make the filling, the cream will have had ample time to chill)

In an electric mixter with a whisk attachment, whisk together the egg replacer powder and warm water until frothy, 2 minutes. Add the sugar crystals and stream in the canola oil while whisking on medium speed. Once incorporated, whisk on high for 3 minutes until thick and creamy. Add the oat milk, vanilla and maple syrup. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until everything is incorporated.
Use a spoon to drop dough on the baking sheets or for more perfect circles, use an ice cream scoop. Space each dollop 2 inches apart. Press down to slightly flatten each pie. Sprinkle some additional maple crystals on top of each. (If you used brown sugar, sprinkle regular granulated white sugar on top.)
Bake for 11 minutes, turning once after 6. Let cool and frost.

Coconut Cream, Walnuts & Pecans
1/4 cup raw pecans
1/4 cup raw walnuts
pinch cinnamon
pinch fleur de sel (or sea salt)
1-15oz can coconut cream, chilled
1 cup organic powdered sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp maple extract

In a dry saute pan, toast the nuts with the cinnamon and salt until toasted. Set aside, let cool and chop finely.
Whip the coconut cream on high speed for 2 minutes until thick and creamy. Add the powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and extract. Whip 5 minutes more. Sandwich between two cookies.
Press the outer edge of filling with the chopped nuts.

**This cream filling is the consistency of whipped cream in soft peaks, not like frosting found on a cake. If you want a more traditional frosting, simply cream 1/4 cup earth balance vegan butter with the maple syrup, vanilla and maple extract until light in color and creamy. Add the coconut cream and beat for 3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and beat 3 minutes more until stiff.