[jumptorecipe]
Growing up on a potato farm in Idaho (no, seriously), we didn’t often have sweet potatoes since we had the “real” ones right outside our back door. On the rare occasions that a dish of “candied yams” made it to the Thanksgiving table, I didn’t much care for them either. I guess those weird orange tubers were just not the right kind of taters that this Idaho girl knew and loved.
Then sometime shortly after college while eating sweet potato fries and marshmallow dipping sauce at a dirty little dive bar I realized that “Wow! I freaking love these things!! Why haven’t I made these before!!” (I’m guessing that the vodka shots couldn’t have hurt either). Either way, I had a new found love and sweet potatoes quickly became my BFF. I loved them mashed, as fries, dried like chips, or baked into breads and cupcakes. They are delish little devils and far from the soggy, chunky, gooey side dish from my childhood.
And then along came THIS dish. This gloriously sweet, crunchy, savory dish that totally trumped all other sweet potato dishes and pretty much all other side dishes at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Even the beloved green bean bake was KO’d. And dare I say it without being blasphemous to my heritage…I may even love this dish more than the mashed potatoes (sorry Daddy).
This recipe came into our lives when The Boy’s stepmom wanted to try something new (I don’t think she liked ye old candied yams either) and she found this in some magazine. We have tweaked it to our liking (more crust!!) and it has since been a staple of our holiday feasts.
It’s a good thing this recipe makes a large batch because it goes fast! I could eat it all day (I am not ashamed to admit that I have eaten this for breakfast). Let’s just say that it’s a good thing that I only allow myself to make this during the holiday season. *drools*
[recipeanchor]
- 3 (40oz) cans of cut sweet potatoes in syrup, drained
- 1¼ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- ½ cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 cups chopped pecans
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (1 stick) melted butter
- Beat sweet potatoes, sugar, butter, milk, eggs, vanilla and salt in a large bowl until smooth.
- Spoon potato mixture into a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch casserole/baking dish.
- To make the topping, toss brown sugar, pecans and flour together. Add the melted butter and mix until incorporated. Sprinkle evenly over top of sweet potato mixture.
- Bake at 350° for 40 to 45 minutes.