Mashed Sweet Potatoes With Brown Sugar and Pecans

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi

• Want to step up your mashed sweet potato game? Use a food processor to whip boiled sweet potatoes into a quick and creamy purée, then stir in eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, and lemon juice before baking into a dynamic and comforting Thanksgiving casserole. (No food processor? Use a potato masher to mash the boiled potatoes by hand before stirring in the other ingredients. The resulting casserole won't be quite as smooth, but it'll still be delicious.)  

  

For the topping: Skip the marshmallows in favor of brown sugar and pecans, which turn into a crunchy, buttery, candylike crust.

Ingredients

12–14 servings

For the topping:

1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

½ cup chopped pecans (about 2 ounces)

¼ cup (½ stick) chilled butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces

For the sweet potatoes:

5 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), peeled, cut into 1½-inch pieces

4 large eggs

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons salt

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix sugar, pecans, and butter in a small bowl. Cover and chill until ready to use. (Can be made up to 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Step 2

Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Cook sweet potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 12 minutes. Drain. Let stand in a colander for 15 minutes. Purée sweet potatoes in processor.

Step 3

Beat eggs, syrup, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt in a large bowl. Mix in puréed sweet potatoes. Transfer sweet potato mixture to prepared dish. Sprinkle pecan topping evenly over mixture.

Step 4

Bake until sweet potato mixture is set and topping bubbles, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes and serve.