I'm all about things that I can do ahead of time to make Thanksgiving and Christmas Day a little easier on myself. I think all families have "their favorites" for holiday meals and one of the dishes our family always has is sweet potato casserole. It's a recipe my mom got from her best friends mom years ago and it's always on our table for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I figured out a long time ago that I could make it ahead a few days and keep in the fridge or even better, make it weeks ahead and keep it in the freezer. That's what I did this time. As a matter of fact this time I made a double recipe so I've got it for next week and then Christmas as well.
#doubleforthewin
Here's what you'll need for a single recipe:
3 c. mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 stick melted butter
1/2 t. vanilla
2 eggs, well beaten
Topping:
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1 c. coconut
1/3 stick melted butter
2/3 c. chopped pecans
(this picture has what I needed for a double recipe)
First thing you are going to want to do is bake your sweet potatoes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil (trust me on this one). Scrub the potatoes and place on pan and poke each potato a few times with a fork so steam can escape.
Bake 1 - 1 1/2 hours depending on the size of your potatoes. These were pretty big so they took 1 1/2 hours.
They're all nice a puffy when you take them out, but they "deflate" quickly.
Allow to cool and then remove skin and mash with a hand masher.
I like to "whip" them in the mixer for a few minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients.
Add melted butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt and whip in mixer a little longer.
I went ahead and put one recipe of the casserole into the baking dish I'll be using next week for Thanksgiving, one part in a plastic container for Christmas and made a small one to "test" to be sure it was good. You can rest easy, it was yummy!
Combine the topping ingredients if baking immediately or you can mix them up the day you are baking the casserole.
I used some on the little "tester" and placed the rest in a Ziploc bag for next week.
Here's how I'll store them until I'm ready for them.
Place plastic wrap right on the surface to avoid moisture and freezer crystals forming.
I placed the bag of topping right on top of the plastic and then wrapped the entire dish in plastic and then foil and then stuck it in the freezer along with the plastic container for Christmas.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until brown and bubbly.
This is a delicious side dish. I used to only like to eat the topping (haha) but in the last couple of years I've actually started to like the sweet potato part as well.
Hope this inspires you and helps you to get a jump on next week.
Lisa
XOXO
Here's the recipe all together.
Sweet Potato Casserole
3 c. mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 stick melted butter
1/2 t. vanilla
2 eggs, well beaten
Topping:
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1 c. coconut
1/3 stick melted butter
2/3 c. chopped pecans
Bake sweet potatoes at 350 degrees for an hour or until they are tender.
Allow to cool and remove from skins.
Place in mixer bowl and mash with masher then whip for a few minutes.
Add sugar, eggs, salt, melted butter, and vanilla and beat a few more minutes on med-high to whip a little air into the casserole and make it lighter.
Mix together brown sugar, flour, coconut, melted butter and chopped pecans then sprinkle on top of casserole.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until brown and bubbly around edges.
