These sweet potatoes have all the great flavors of a traditional casserole, yet they’re elegant enough for a fancy dinner. When I want sweet potatoes I serve crock pot sweet potato casserole, candied sweet potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes or this fantastic dish.
Tips For The Perfect Sweet Potatoes
Try to pick sweet potatoes that are the same size and shape. They will cook more evenly and the end result will look nicer if all your potatoes look similar. I take the contents of 8 potatoes and stuff them into 6 potato shells. This makes each of the twice baked sweet potatoes look full with delicious mashed sweet potatoes. Cook your sweet potatoes on a sheet pan so they don’t drip into your oven. If you use a sheet of aluminum foil your cleanup will be easier. Make sure to prick your sweet potatoes with a fork before they go into the oven. Feel free to double or triple this recipe for a crowd.
Flavor Variations
These twice baked sweet potatoes are sweet and delicious as-is; however, you can change up the flavors if you want. These twice baked potatoes are wonderful with holiday dishes like Cajun turkey, brussels sprouts salad, crock pot stuffing or honey roasted carrots.
Sweet Potatoes: Pick any orange or red fleshed sweet potato for this recipe. You can use varieties like jewel or garnet sweet potatoes. Pecans: You can chop the pecans for the topping yourself or buy a bag of chopped pecans to save a little time. Mini-Marshmallows: These little marshmallows go great with sweet potatoes. Buy a bag from your local supermarket and if you have leftover marshmallows use them for slow cooker hot chocolate!
Mash the scooped out sweet potato with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Put the mashed mixture back in the sweet potato skins. Mix up a streusel topping by combining flour, brown sugar, butter and pecans. Sprinkle the topping on the potatoes and they go back in the oven. After 20 minutes take the potatoes out and add the marshmallows to the top. Put them back in the oven a few minutes then sprinkle dried cranberries over the top and serve this delicious side dish!
Maple: Try adding a tablespoon of maple syrup to the mashed potatoes. Savory: For a savory version of this dish, omit the brown sugar and cinnamon from the mashed sweet potatoes and omit the sweet toppings. Instead, add a dash of black pepper and 2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning to the mashed potatoes. Top the dish with bits of cooked bacon. If you don’t have Italian seasoning, feel free to mix in some thyme, parsley, oregano, basil and garlic powder. For a little spice, try adding cayenne pepper. Apple: Instead of cranberries and marshmallows, top the dish with slices of peeled apple that you sauté until tender in 3 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar. Pie Spices: You can make your sweet potatoes more like a sweet potato pie. Just stir into your mashed sweet potatoes 4 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Fluff: Feel free to top your sweet potatoes with a little marshmallow fluff (marshmallow creme).
This is such a fun way to serve sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving and it’s so convenient to make them ahead of time. The important thing is to not skimp on the toppings. Because come on, we all know that’s the best part!
