Super Easy Sweet Potato Casserole

Photo from About.com

Have you been invited to someone's home for Thanksgiving this year and you don't know what to bring? Are you looking for something to jazz up your own Thanksgiving dinner? I made this very simple dish based on this sweet potato casserole recipe  in under an hour and was pleased with the results.

It is very tasty, if you love sweet potatoes. Even if you like pecans, especially candied pecans. This casserole is pretty sweet, and can honestly pass as a dessert. I have included a less-sweet variation below. Secondly, it's pretty easy to make and difficult to screw up. I put this together for a luncheon at work, baking the potatoes the night before.

Before you start, preheat your oven to 400. Poke holes in your potatoes and wrap them in foil. When the oven is heated, bake the potatoes for an hour or until tender. In a pinch, you can boil or microwave them, but the baking really brings out the flavor of the sweet potatoes.

For the filling, you will need:

Those pecans totally photobombed. They are for the topping.

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes. I used one large yam and one large sweet potato.
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup milk

For the topping, you will need:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour - I used whole wheat
1/3 cup butter (yes, more butter)
1 cup chopped pecans

Lower your oven to 325*.
Combine the ingredients for the filling together. I had to get over the amount of butter, and pretend I didn't see it. Put contents of the filling in a buttered 2 qt. casserole dish. I used Smart Balance applied lightly with a paper towel to a dark glass dish and it worked out well - no sticking.

Combine the ingredients for the topping, and sprinkle evenly over the top so that all the sweet potatoes are covered. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until heated through and the pecans are browned.

Healthier variation:
I remade this the next day, with a couple minor tweaks.
Instead of using a whole stick of regular butter in the filling, I instead used a 1/2 cup melted Smart Balance. For a casserole that is less sweet, you can easily get away with using a lot less brown sugar. I cut it down to a half cup and I still found it to be delicious, since you could really taste the sweet potatoes more. I'm sure you could substitute and reduce the butter in the topping as well. That will be something I will try next time! I will definitely make this again!

~Happy Holiday Eating, Friends!~