I love Thanksgiving. I love the colors, the aromas, the cool crisp air outside, the smell of turkey in the oven, the list can go on and on. And secretly, I love the excitement of black friday shopping the day after. Call me crazy (you won’t be the first, certainly not the last), but for me, black friday shopping signals the start of something else…CHRISTMAS! Thanksgiving is like Christmas’ cocktail hour. And we all know, that cocktail time is the best time. One thing that I absolutely love at Thanksgiving is sweet potato casserole. And because everyone loves everything mini, or individual sized food, I came up with stuffed sweet potato casseroles. These are easy to make and can be made ahead of time, which is perfect if you want to prep ahead for Thanksgiving. If you are looking for a good recipe for mashed potatoes, check out my garlic mashed potatoes recipe.
Stuffed sweet potato casseroles can be made ahead of time to make Thanksgiving entertaining easier.
Stuffed sweet potato casseroles can be made in 6 easy steps. If you choose to make them ahead of time, stop at step 5, wrap with foil and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake them.
Step 1: Cook the Sweet Potatoes
Clean the sweet potatoes and poke them with a fork all around. Wrap in paper towel and cook in the microwave for 5-7 minutes (7 minutes for much larger sweet potatoes). I cooked the ones in the picture below for 7 minutes. Then bake in a preheated oven (400 degrees) for 30 minutes. Place the potatoes directly on the oven rack. When they are done, allow them to cool a bit and slice them in half (see picture below).
Step 2: Hollow out the sweet potatoes
Take a spoon and scoop out the sweet potatoes, leaving enough in along the skins so that they don’t completely flop in (see pic below). Put the insides of the sweet potatoes in a medium bowl.
Step 3: Add filling ingredients and mix
Add the filling ingredients from the recipe and mix using a hand mixer
Step 4: Stuff the potato skins with the filling
Use a large spoon and stuff the sweet potatoes evenly. Nothing fancy to it. Just a plain old spoon, not need for pastry bags and fancy piping equipment (ok, so I tried to be fancy and used piping equipment, but the mixture is not firm enough and doesn’t hold any shape…plus, you are going to put the pecan crumble and marshmallow topping on top so it won’t matter anyway).
Step 5: Top with the pecan and marshmallow crumble
Mix all of the topping ingredients (follow directions). Evenly top the stuffed sweet potatoes. Add marshmallows to fill in any empty spots. If you are making these ahead of time, stop here. Place them in a baking dish and wrap in tin foil. Refrigerate for up to 2 days before baking.
Step 6: Bake
Line up the sweet potato casseroles in a large baking dish
Voila! Sweet potato casseroles are ready to accompany your Thanksgiving turkey. But don’t think that you can only serve these with turkey. They would also be delicious alongside a hearty cut of steak or a juicy roast beef and gravy. Enjoy these babies and let me know how they turn out. Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Ingredients
- 4 medium/large sweet potatoes
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- Zest of nutmeg
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- ¼ cup flour, plus 2 tablespoons (or 6 tablespoons flour)
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Poke the sweet potatoes with a fork and wrap in paper towel.
- Cook in the microwave for 5-7 minutes, until soft to touch.
- Discard paper towel. Place the potatoes directly on the oven rack. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Take out of the oven and allow the potatoes to cool, enough so you can handle them. Lower the heat of the oven to 350 degrees.
- Cut the potatoes in half. Scoop out the insides and put in a bowl. Place the hollow potato halves in a baking dish, hollowed side up.
- In the bowl you will prepare the filling. Add all of the filling ingredients from the ingredient list (eggs, heavy cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, salt, vanilla extract).
- Mix with a hand mixer until all ingredients are combined, about 2 minutes.
- Use a large spoon and fill each potato half.
- In a medium bowl, combine all of the filling ingredients, except for the marshmallows. Mix until combined.
- Add the mini marshmallows and carefully fold them in.
- Evenly distribute the topping on the filled sweet potatoes. Use extra marshmallows to fill in any empty spaces.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the pecan and marshmallow topping is lightly browned.
- Allow to cool and serve.
