Thanksgiving Yam Bake

As I have mentioned before, in our family, my sister-in-law Francine makes the Thanksgiving Day feast every year.  She always serves a version of a sweet potato bake.  Many years ago, she shared the recipe with me and it had quite a long list of ingredients.  I changed it and came up with this recipe.  It has very few ingredients, a much more intense sweet potato taste and it’s much less fat.  My boys love this and it is so easy!

Serves  12 to 14

13-14 large orange fleshed sweet potatoes or yams (garnet yams are great)

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted margarine or butter

1/ 2 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted margarine or butter

1/ 2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups of whole pecan halves

Place washed and dried sweet potatoes in a throw away aluminum baking pan.

Bake sweet potatoes in a preheated 400ºF oven for two hours until natural sugars are bubbling out and they are very soft.  Remove them from the oven and let cool a little bit.  Peel and remove soft pulp then, mash them.

Add in  brown sugar, cinnamon, and room temperature butter and stir until well blended.

Place sweet potatoes in two 8 inch by 8 inch baking dishes.

You could use one 9 by 13 dish as well.  Spread and flatten the tops.

For topping, combine butter and brown sugar with  cinnamon.  When well blended, mix in pecan halves.  Divide topping over both baking dishes.  Spread topping over potatoes evenly distributing pecans.  Bake, covered with aluminum foil for 1/2 hour in a 350ºF oven, then uncover and continue baking until the top is bubbling and dark gold about another 10 to 20 minutes.  Serve with Thanksgiving dinner.   Leftovers are great and you may freeze after assembly and then, defrost and cook the day you need it.