Is it a casserole? A souffle? A side item? A desert?
After many, many years of making it, I honestly still don’t know.
All I know is that it’s a recipe from Susan’s Sampler II, a collection from the ladies of the Methodist Church where I was baptized. So you KNOW this is going to be good.
Sweet Potato Something!
Ingredients for the Casserole:
- 8 to 10 medium sized sweet potatoes (no canned potatoes, people!)
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup of milk (or enough to achieve desired consistency)
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1 stick of butter
- 2 eggs
Ingredients for the Most Amazing Pecan Topping EVER:
- 1/2 cup of light brown sugar
- 10oz bag of half pecans (you’ll need to crush), or a bag of chopped pecans
- 1/3 cup of flour
- 1/3 cup of melted butter
Sweet Potato Something Ingredients
- A hand-held mixer (maybe)
- A big spoon or two (definitely)
- Big mixing bowl
- Smaller mixing bowl
- Casserole dish
- Hammer
Now for the How To and Pretty Pictures:
Step One: First of all, since we’re using real potatoes they will need to be scrubbed, have the ends and other rough spots trimmed, wrapped in tin foil, and put in the oven to bake for 60 minutes.
They’re practically begging for it…
Step Two: Mash those babies! I take the potatoes out of their tinfoil, toss them into a big bowl, and mash them with the skin on. It helps give them texture and rumor has it the skin is healthy.
Ready to smash!
Step Three: Mix in the vanilla extrat, milk, sugar, stick of butter, and two eggs. Take a hand-mixer and on the lowest setting, bled the ingredients with the mashed sweet potatoes. (Confession: You can totally just use a big spoon to mix everything if you don’t mind larger pieces of skin in the dish.)
All smashed up with no where to go…
Step Four: Coat a casserole dish in olive oil or your lubricant of choice and put your sweet potato mix in.
Step Five: If you were able to find crushed pecans then you can skip this step. But if, like me, you got stuck buying a bag of regular half pecans… well… recruit a man with a hammer and tell him to do his best Hulk impersonation.
Show me The Hulk, baby!
Step Six: Mix your crushed pecans with the melted butter, flour, and light brown sugar until it’s an awesome, dark brown. Feel free to sample it, because yes… it’s going to be a candy crust…
Ridiculously yummy pecan crust
Step Seven: Pour your crushed pecan mixture onto the mashed potatoes in your casserole dish and pat them down nice and tight.
Pack the pecan crust on!
Step Eight: Put the dish back in the oven – uncovered – for 25 minutes.
Step Nine: Remove from the oven, let it cool, and NOM!
A big, heaping scoop of nom!
That’s it! Your tummy should be full, your house should smell delish, and don’t blame me if your family demands this every Thanksgiving.
Bonus: This is such a sweet side dish that you might not need desert afterward.
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for diabetic coma’s that may result from this, my Thanksgiving staple.
Enjoy!
I'm newly wed to a man I've loved for over 8 years. I'm also a mom to two kitties, an interactive marketing manager, and a Caribbean vacation planner.
25 October, 2012
Holy shit that looks good. The only thing you’re missing is mini marshmallows covering that thing, because what is any sweet potato without mini marshmallows? It’s like peanut butter without jelly. Or maybe it’s Abbot without Costello. Actually, both of those things probably work without each other. I know! It’s like Paula without a beer in her hand. This comment is going downhill. I’ll stop now.
25 October, 2012
LOL! The missing marshmellows is actually one of the reason’s I don’t know what this thing is supposed to be. I found it in this cookbook that my Great Grandma gave me, made it for Vince, and he has *never* let me go a holiday season without making it. After you try the pecan topper you won’t want to go back to marshmellows. Or at least we didn’t.
4 November, 2012
Oh wow that looks amazing. “Rumor has it the skin is healthy” <– you're funny, lady. Also, you know they make pre-hammered pecans…right? Or is that part of the fun?
PINNING!
Also… The One Campaign is doing this fundraiser/awareness thing with Sweet Potatoes. You need to enter/link up this post. More here: (NOT SPAM, DERP) http://www.one.org/livingproof/en/story/growing-a-better-future/
4 November, 2012
zomg the story about the sweet potatoes is meant for me: She’s from Tanzania, the only place in the world where my lovely engagement ring stone can be mined from. Love!
And yeah I know somewhere they sell pre-hammered pecans, but not at Publix. But it’s all good. This is the price Vince has to pay for me making this for him. He seriously (not exaggerating) can eat the *entire* casserole dish himself over the course of two days. He loves the pecan topper most of all so that’s his ‘job’.
Thanks for pinning! This is my first recipe and I’m excited! I’ll whip out Vince’s serious camera for the next one so there will be more pinnable pics.
5 November, 2012
nom nom!! I’m totally stealing this to make for Aaron’s fam this Thanksgiving. Thank you!
22 November, 2012
Did you make it? Let me know! I’m dying to know how this turned out for others!
7 January, 2013
I love this blog entry! More recipes please!! I always recruit a man for can opening or chopping or something that doesn’t involve actually reading directions
. Thanks for all the pics, I wish cookbooks were all written this way!