Ode to Thanksgiving – Sweet Potato Praline Swirl

I LOVE sweet potatoes. I can’t think of a single way that I’ve had them and not liked them. So, when I started thinking about a side dish to post, I knew it would be sweet potato related. I didn’t want to post a traditional casserole recipe, so when I saw this one from Taste of Home I knew it was going to be the winner. And boy, is it a winner. Shew! Even Annie gobbled this down. I can tell it’s going to be a fight for the leftovers……unless my dad is here. He doesn’t like sweet potatoes. One time I made sweet potato fries and he said “Are these sweet potatoes?” I said “Noooooooooooooooooo dad.” He ate them. Man, I am such a liar.

We need cinnamon, Hazelnut  Coffee-Mate, brown sugar, ginger, vanilla, sweet potatoes, eggs, pecans, milk and butter. Just looking at those ingredients tells you that something good is about to happen. Just sit back and watch the magic unfold.

Peel and chop your sweet potatoes up into small-ish cubes. It says to use two medium sized ones. However, I find that “medium” varies with who you ask. So, these were probably considered large. Oops. Oh well. It’s over now. See my new awesome cutting board from Ikea? Happy Birthday to me! You’ll be seeing it a lot around here. Yes, Barry makes cutting boards but I wanted this GINORMOUS one to cover most of my counter beside the stove.

Pop those little babies into a pot and cover with water. Bring them to a boil and cook them until they’re soft. I think mine cooked about 15 minutes, but I could be wrong……..Annie required “assistance” so I had to leave the room for a while. I always lose track of time when that happens.

When they’re done, drain the potatoes and mash them. I used a hand mixer but you can use a potato masher…….or even a food processor if you like. They might fly out of the pan while you’re doing this. Later in the day I found some pasted to the refrigerator.

In the same pot, add the milk, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, pecans, ginger, and cinnamon. Don’t use the mixer for this; just mix it up with a spoon.

Spread the potato mixture into a greased 8 inch dish. Ya know, I just realized that I licked the spoon when I was done spreading. There was raw egg in there. Oops. “But I’m not dead! I’m feeling much betta! I think I’ll take a walk.”

I went back to the same pan to mix up my topping. Again, I don’t like to dirty additional dishes. Mix together the brown sugar, Hazelnut creamer, melted butter, and vanilla. Whisk it until no lumps remain from the sugar.

Pour the topping mixture over the sweet potatoes. It’s pretty runny.  Don’t freak out!

Ok, this recipe is called SWIRL, so now it’s time to take care of that. You can use a knife, but I just used the same spatula that I used to spread. Just cut through the mixtures so that they sorta “swirl” together.

You’re going to bake this at 325 degrees for about 35-40 minutes or until it’s set. You can use a thermometer  to check that the temp is 160 degrees.  Your house is going to smell soooooooooooooooooooo good. Taste of Home does it again!Check out my good friend, Brandy’s blog – Young in the Mountains. She’s doing a series on 30 Days of Thankfulness. We should have a spirit of thankfulness every day.

Thanks Lord, for all the blessings you’ve bestowed upon me. I am very undeserving.