Sweet Potato Casserole

…perfect for Thanksgiving! I don’t know if sweet potatoes are on your typical Holiday menu, but they always are on mine. This is an easy and quite tasty dish, that is very kid friendly too. My 5 year old loves it.

I actually made 2 different versions of this dish this weekend… once for dinner at a friend’s house, and again for The Boy’s class Thanksgiving lunch at school. (For the kids, I decided to top with marshmallows instead– also tasty, but not as good as the crumbly nut topping).

Note: This ‘final’ photo was taken after 30 minutes in the oven. I took it to our friends’ house and finished it off in the oven there, so it should be a little crispier than is pictured here.

Sweet Potato Base:

You’ll need: Sweet Potatoes (4-5 medium), 1/4 butter, 1/2 c sugar, 1 1/2 c milk, 1 teas vanilla extract, 2 eggs

Cut ~ 4-5 med sweet potatoes into slices about 1/2-3/4 in thick (leave skins on)
Steam slices until soft. Let cool and remove skins.
If you have a stick blender:
Return to a large bowl or cooking pot and add 1/4 butter, 1/2 c sugar, 1 1/2 c milk, 1 teas vanilla extract, 2 eggs. Use your stick blender to blend it all until smooth (if you don’t have a stick blender, use a food processor, but may take multiple batches)
Spoon mixture into greased 13×9 dish. (see photo1, below)

Topping Variations:

See the photos below to ensure you get your topping to a good, crumbly consistency. The Cashew Maple (pictured) is a little stickier and less crumbly than the others, due to the addition of the syrup.

Original topping:

In food processor, pulse together 3/4 c brown sugar, 1/2 c flour, and 1/4 cup butter.
Stir together with 1 cup chopped pecans or other nuts.

Cranberry-Macadamia:

Follow directions above but use 1 c macadamia nuts, and 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Cashew Maple:

Pulse together 3/4 c brown sugar, 3/4c flour, and 1/4 cup butter. Drizzle in ~1/8 c maple syrup while pulsing.
Stir together with Cashews.
Top sweet potatoes, then Drizzle extra maple syrup on top.