Sweet Potato Casserole with Crunchy Pecan Praline Topping

SPC 4 life, baybeeeee.

This was so good during the holidays.  Even my picky eater loved it.

The crunchy praline topping was just the right thing to finish off the smooth, buttery taste of the sweet potatoes.

PSA:  Despite the contradictory markings required by the FDA on the can that say both names on different parts of the label, sweet potatoes and yams are 2 completely different vegetables.

Yes, they are both orange in color.

Yes, they are both root vegetables.

Yes, they are often used interchangeably in recipes.

But no, they evolved as two totally different things from separate parts of the world.

Sweet potatoes originated in Central and South America (now grown in the U.S.).

Yams originated in Africa and Asia.  They are more like a yucca root with a starchy, tree-barklike texture.

The more you know *rainbow*.

Anywhooooo, here is a recipe for our tasty "sweet potato" casserole.

*If you don't like your casserole very sweet, you can reduce the sugar by up to half.  We liked ours the sweet way.

Ingredients:

1 large 40-ounce can of cut sweet potatoes or 3 smaller 15-oz cans, reserve the liquid syrup

*1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup butter, melted (for topping)

Kosher Salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 2-quart sized baking dish.

2. Empty the entire can of sweet potatoes (save liquid separately) into a medium saucepan

and bring to a boil.  Heat about 15 minutes, until hot and tender, while adding some of the reserved liquid to get it to a loose consistency- but not too drippy (like soft oatmeal).  Remove the pan from heat and mash up the sweet potatoes.

3. In a medium bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes with the white sugar, eggs, 1/3 cup butter, milk, and vanilla extract.  Add a pinch of salt to taste to balance out the sweetness. 

4.  Spread the mix evenly into the buttered baking dish.

5. To make the topping: In another bowl, mix the brown sugar, chopped pecans, flour, and 1/3 cup melted butter. You can also add a pinch of salt to this to taste.

6.  Spread the crumbly mix evenly over the sweet potato mixture.

7. Bake 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center of the casserole comes out clean.

Watch the Sweet Potato Casserole song by Flula Borg