Purple Sweet Potato Flatbread (Gluten Free)

I've been making these Purple Sweet Potato Flatbread for a few years now and really took my time perfecting the recipe. They're made with one of my all-time favourite ingredients: purple sweet potato or yam which is a popular ingredient in Okinawa, Japan, and other tropical areas.

I am quite literally obsessed with it, almost harassing shop keepers trying to track it down (really). I also stockpile it in my freezer. My colleagues at naturopathic student clinic like to make fun of me and my little obsession. It happens to be the star ingredient in my Purple Sweet Potato Protein Pudding ...how's that for some killer alliteration?!  So, you get the picture, I love purple sweet potato. A lot.

Key selling points to convince you to give my Purple Flatbread a try:

• They're purple 🙂
• Inexpensive ingredients
• The dough can be refrigerated and also frozen with no negative effect on the taste and texture - this means you can make the flatbread almost on demand when you feel like it
• The ingredients are far more nutrient dense than flatbread made  from wheat flour - buckwheat contains numerous minerals and the purple sweet potato contains phytonutrients called anthocyanins - these are associated with reduced risk of cancer because of their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
• The flatbread can be used in many different ways, such as with curry, Mexican food, or to dip in to hummus
• The dough is silky, yet strong and flexible - no easy feat for a gluten free dough!

Importantly, the purple sweet potato I use is cooked and then frozen, so I buy it frozen. Fresh is harder to find here in Australia. If you do want to use fresh purple sweet potato, I suggest chopping and steaming it so that the flesh is similar in moisture content to the frozen variety that I use in this recipe.

Check out my tutorial on Facebook for easily making these flatbread in to a nice round shape.

Here it is with Smoky Hummus, a recipe I'll be posting soon.

And as a wrap with venison and guacamole...

This is the brand of cooked, frozen purple sweet potato I buy.

Without further ado, here is the recipe for Purple Flatbread

Purple Flatbread (Gluten Free)

gluten free, vegan, egg free

Purple flatbread are gluten free, nutrient dense and easy to put together. The dough refrigerates and freezes perfectly for purple flatbread on demand! The secret ingredient is purple sweet potato or yam.

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Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 6 flatbreads

Author: Allison Jones

Ingredients

• 125 g buckwheat flour
• 75 g tapioca flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (not baking soda)
• 1 teaspoon finely ground sea salt
• 1 cup (230g) tightly packed, mashed dark purple sweet potato - at room temp
• 125 mL water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or more if needed
• Oil spray as needed

Instructions

• Thoroughly mix together the flours, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
• Put the mashed sweet potato in the food processor bowl. Add the oil and water to the mashed sweet potato and blend thoroughly, scraping down and re-blending if needed. The mixture should look smooth but may have some small lumps.
• Add the bowl of dry ingredients to the food processor and thoroughly blend. Ensure all the ingredients are incorporated well. Remove from the food processor and ensure any stray oil or dry ingredients are removed as well.
• Knead by hand gently for 2 minutes to ensure any stray oil or dry ingredients are fully incorporated. If the dough is sticky, wash and dry hands thoroughly and then add 1 teaspoon at a time of tapioca flour (up to 2 teaspoons) and incorporate well.
• At this stage, any remaining stickiness can be addressed by adding in a little bit more oil - add in ½ teaspoon extra oil at a time up to 2 teaspoons.
• Divide the dough in to two equal pieces and then divide each half again in to three or four balls depending on size and thickness preferred. Or, you can measure each ball instead (see notes).
• Pre-heat a frypan on medium heat and spray with oil or add a small amount of other fat.
• Place parchment paper on the bench, place one of the dough balls on top, ready to roll.
• Place plastic wrap on top of the dough and roll the dough out to approx. 18cm (7") diameter. If you prefer, there is an easy method linked to in the Notes.
• Remove the plastic wrap, set it aside and take the piece of parchment with the bread over to the frypan and flip it in to the pan so the parchment is on top and the bread is in contact with the pan.
• Cook flatbread for 3 minutes and flip after bubble-lumps appear, then cook for another 2 minutes and then remove to a plate lined with paper towel or a cooling rack.
• You can roll out each subsequent flatbread while one is cooking to save time.
• Repeat until all flatbread are cooked.
• Flatbread is best eaten fresh, but can be kept at room temperature for a day or so after cooking, covered in foil. They reheat well in the microwave with a sprinkle of water. The dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and brought to room temperature before using. The dough can also be frozen into individual flatbread balls and defrosted at room temperature when needed. Sometimes, the dough may need "refreshing" with a tiny bit of oil after it has been defrosted (it needs refreshing if it has cracks in it).

Notes

• Equipment: Food processor, medium mixing bowl, one or two large non-stick frypans or skillets to cook the flatbread, wooden board, rolling pin, baking/parchmet paper, plastic wrap and a wide egg lifter.
• If you want to use the dough for tortillas, use 50g of dough. If using for naan, flatbread or souvlaki, use 80g for a thicker flatbread.
• See my tutorial here for making tortillas or flatbread easily. This is my preferred method as I'm not so great making a round shape with a rolling pin alone.
• The cook time will be shorter if you use more than one pan for cooking the flatbread or if you want to make the batch of dough but only cook two immediately and use the rest of the dough later.

 

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