Candied Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows

Sadly, the only time I get to come back to my hometown in Texas is during the holidays. With that being said, for the past few years, this dish has become synonymous with family dinners at home. I'd highly recommend it for any gathering of friends or family -- and with only 15 minutes of hands-on time, it's a comfort food that speaks for itself.

Servings: enough for 8 people

What You'll Need:

• 4 large sweet potatoes
• 1/3 cup maple syrup (two tablespoons of honey will work too)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• Cooking spray (or olive oil)
• Couple handfuls of mini-marshmallows
• Oven

The Step-by-Step:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Rinse the potatoes in running water, and use your hands to make sure all the dirt is off. Using a good knife, slice potatoes into circles, then the circles in 4 pieces each to make chunks.
3. Spray a good sized oven pan  with cooking spray. (I used one of my mom's circular pans, but if I was at home, I'd use a standard-sized brownie pan)
4. Place the potato chunks in the pan, and in a small bowl, mix the syrup and the sugar together.
5. Pour the syrup mixture onto the potatoes and toss with your (washed) hands.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven, and use a fork to see if the potatoes are soft (if you have a hard time inserting the fork, it needs to bake more.) If soft, sprinkle the marshmallows over the potatoes and place back into the oven for 5 more minutes.
8. Remove from the oven. The marshmallows should be melted.
9. Eat up!

 

xoxo n

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For the record

Brown sugar and maple syrup may not be super nutritious, but sweet potatoes are commonly called the most nutritious vegetable there is (not to mention one of the cheapest ever.) As far as nutrients, it's probably the best bang for your buck you can get.Many recipes you will find on the internet for a marshmallow/sweet potato caserole dish will have way more sugar and fat than this one. I would know -- I used to make it by mashing the potatoes and adding about a cup of sweetened coffee creamer (on top of everything listed above)! YIKES! So I decided to lighten it up, and to this day, everyone still eats it up, even those who aren't as healthy as I try to be. If you keep the portions on this dish in check, this dish is a perfectly good way to celebrate, whether at a dinner party, or just on a Tuesday.