Sweet Potato Casserole

I really like sweet sticky things. And sweet sticky things with brown sugar and pecans...

 

Oh My

 

Sweet Potato Casserole is very addictive. This dish makes an appearance on my table quite a bit. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Sunday Dinner. It is the perfect dish. One of the things I love about this dish is that it can be a side dish or dessert and it is the ultimate comfort food. Crunchy Pecans, Brown Sugar, Butter, Fresh Yams. What is not to love? When you go to the store to get your ingredients, be sure to get yams. There are more than one type of sweet potato, but for this recipe, fresh or canned yams work beautifully. They should be orange, not white. I use the term yam and sweet potato interchangeably, so I hope I don't confuse you.

After you cook your yams or mash your canned yams and add all of your ingredients, the batter will look like this. I always add a little brown sugar to the batter, but I like things extra sweet. If you add extra like I do, this will taste more like a dessert than a side dish. I usually add 1/2 cup brown sugar in addition to the 1/2 cup white sugar. Either way, this is really really good.

Fresh Pecans really take this dish to the next level. If you have a mini chopper, just pulse once or twice and they are the perfect size, or you have the option of chopping them by hand or purchasing a bag of chopped pecans. I always like to leave a few whole pecans to garnish the top of the casserole.

Brown sugar babe, when I put it in my mouth I don't know how to behave...

Once you add all of your ingredients to the topping, it will look crumbly like this

And then...

Fresh out of the oven it looks like this

So do you want to experience this deliciousness? do ya?

Go get your ingredients and lets enjoy something brown sugary and sweet:-)

 

Ingredients

4 cups mashed sweet potatoes/yams

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon nutmeg

4 eggs beaten

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 pound butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

 

Preheat oven to 350.  Butter a 2 quart casserole dish, or your choice of a 13x9 pan or you can make two small pans. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, white sugar, vanilla extract, nutmeg, eggs and heavy cream. Blend well and spread evenly in casserole dish or the pan of your choice.

For the topping, make sure the butter is very cold and chop it into little squares and then combine with the flour, and sugar with a fork until the mixture is crumbly. Add the pecans and when well combined and crumbly, sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture.

Note: this freezes beautifully. If you decide to freeze it, simply freeze in the pan without baking and when ready to cook, thaw completely and bake as usual. I often make a smaller casserole and freeze the other one in a small 8x8 pan.

Bake the casserole in a 350 oven for approximately 30-40 minutes. Topping should be golden brown.

Bon Appetit!