One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving dinner is sweet potatoes. When JP and I got married and started doing Thanksgiving dinner for both sides of the family, we realized we had a problem – a deep divide in how we thought about things. No…it wasn’t politics or religion that divided us…it was sweet potatoes! It took a few years of having two kinds of sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving before we decided on one, and I hate to admit it, but he won! That said, my family’s recipe is pretty good too, so I’m including both here and you can make your own decision. Neither contains marshmallows, but if your family is dedicated to the marshmallow/sweet potato combination, you could certainly put either in a casserole dish (see note on the candied ones), top with marshmallows, and heat until the marshmallows reach desired temperature.
JP’s Mashed Sweet Potatoes (serves a crowd)
5 pounds fresh sweet potatoes
1 stick butter, cut into 6 pieces
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 cup maple syrup
- Put large pot of salted water on to boil over high heat.
- Peel potatoes and cut into 1/4 inch rounds. Cut each round into quarters (if the ends of the sweet potato are small, cut in half).
- When water comes to a boil, add sweet potatoes. Boil for about 20 minutes or until tender.
- Drain well in colander – you want them really dry.
- When drained, put back in pot over low heat to make sure all water is out and potatoes are warm.
- Mash sweet potatoes until broken up.
- Add butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup and a dash of salt. Mash again and stir until all ingredients are combined. If your sweet potatoes aren’t that sweet (it happens), add more maple syrup.
Ally’s Candied Sweet Potatoes (serves a smaller crowd)
2 pounds fresh sweet potatoes (or two cans canned sweet potatoes a/k/a “yams”)
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1/4 inch rounds. Cut each round in half.
- Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
- Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place sweet potato pieces on cookie sheets.
- Cut butter into thin slices – cut each slice in quarters and put one quarter on each sweet potato piece.
- Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over sweet potatoes.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are hot and topping is starting to brown.
Notes:
1. Depending on the size of your sweet potatoes and how generously you sprinkle, you may need more butter and brown sugar mixture.
2. If you use canned sweet potatoes, you can make this in a casserole dish. Simply layer sweet potatoes, butter, and brown sugar mixture. Top with another layer of sweet potatoes, butter, and brown sugar, and continue till dish is full. Important: this only works with canned sweet potatoes – fresh ones do not have enough moisture to make a nice casserole.
Whichever way you choose to serve sweet potatoes this Thanksgiving, enjoy!