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Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Streusel Topping

Sweet potatoes are a Thanksgiving must have and there are about a zillion ways to prepare them. This make-ahead recipe is sweet and simple.

Sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbs, fiber and beta-carotene. Usually, during the holidays they grace our tables as more comfort than health food, appearing as a side buried under heaps of toasted marshmallows or in the form of dessert as pie.

This version is part angel, part devil. It’s not quite as decadent as some other recipes out there but the pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and crunchy streusel topping make it a little Fall luxury. By baking the sweet potatoes in the oven, allowing them to cool and then peeling them, you get some hands-off time to do other things in the kitchen. The fact that this can be made ahead if you choose also helps with holiday meal prep.

Sweet potatoes are another one of those things that you can kind of freestyle a bit. If you’re not a pumpkin pie spice fan, try substituting cinnamon or allspice. Don’t like pecans? Chopped walnuts will work just fine. If you need to watch sugar or calorie intake, you can substitute a lower-calorie brown sugar blend for the topping, cut back on the butter, or skip the streusel topping all together.

Taste things as you work in the kitchen and don’t be afraid to tweak them to suit you, that’s how new and wonderful holiday traditions are born.


 
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour, 15 Minutes
Yield: 8 Servings
Difficulty: Easy

INGREDIENTS

For the Sweet Potatoes:

3 lbs. Raw Sweet Potatoes
½ Cup Butter, melted
¼ Cup Buttermilk
½ tsp Salt
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 tsp Vanilla Extract


For the Topping:

1/3 Cup Flour
1 Cup Pecans, Chopped
1/3 Cup Butter, Melted
½ Cup Brown Sugar, Packed

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 425°F
  2. Place the raw sweet potatoes in whole on a baking sheet and roast for 1 hour or until soft when pierced with a fork.
  3. Remove from oven and allow to cool 15 minutes.
  4. Cut the roasted sweet potatoes in half and scoop the flesh out into a Swiss Diamond Nonstick Casserole.
  5. Add the melted butter, buttermilk, salt, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla to the sweet potatoes and mash with a silicone utensil to combine ingredients.
  6. In a separate bowl, make the topping by combining the flour, chopped pecans, melted butter, and brown sugar.
  7. Sprinkle the topping over the sweet potato mixture.
  8. At this point, if you are making the dish ahead you can allow it to cool, cover it and store it in the refrigerator up to 2 days.
  9. If you are going straight to the oven you can bake the dish at 375°F for an additional 10 to 15 minutes until the topping is browned and crunchy. If the dish was made ahead, you want to bake it at 375°F for 30 to 45 minutes until heated through and the top is browned and crunchy.