Healthy Holiday Recipe: Sweet Potato Casserole with Praline Topping

A warm & comforting dish that can double as dessert!

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Someone in the family volunteered me to be the host for this year's Thanksgiving dinner and at first I thought "this is going to be so fun!". But then I realized the loads of work that come with such a task. But since it's going to be for a small gathering and I do love spending time in the kitchen baking lovely and mouth-watering dishes, I can't complain and thought I might as well enjoy myself and knock everyone's socks off with my skills in the kitchen. (Jokes, I'm a novice when it comes to cooking). Since then, I've been searching the web (and by web, I mean pinterest) for simple and healthy dishes to make for a small holiday dinner. While the recipes I found all looked delicious and instagram-worthy, they were packed with heavy and processed ingredients. That made it not so appetizing for me. I was hunting for healthier versions of classic Thanksgiving dishes in all corners of the internet. Green bean casseroles and sweet potato casseroles were among the top hits that I found, as they are everyone's favorite at the dinner table. I will be sharing the recipe for the latter today!

This sweet potato casserole with praline topping is a different take on the traditional sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. The toasted pecans with sugar and flour add the perfect crunch to the light and fluffy mashed sweet potatoes. I used the measurements from a couple of different sources and adjusted them to my liking. I kept this a low-sugar dish, because I wanted to bring out the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes. This is an easy recipe that you can whip up on the side, as most of the ingredients can already be found in the kitchen. The only thing to note is that there are a couple of ways to cook the sweet potatoes, you can bake them at 425 degree F. for 1 hour or cut them up and bring them to a boil on the stovetop. Whatever method you choose, getting the sweet potatoes ready will take the longest so I suggest baking them first thing in the morning on the day of Thanksgiving or even the night before as they can be stored in the fridge. 

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Makes 3 servings

Ingredients:

For the sweet potato casserole

2 large red sweet potatoes, baked

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping

1/2 cup raw pecan pieces

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 tablespoon coconut oil, in solid form

Directions:

Set oven to 375 F and set aside a small casserole dish.

Using a spoon, scoop out the meat from the baked sweet potatoes and transfer them to a large bowl. Mash the potatoes with a fork until it's fluffy. 

Combine milk and vanilla extract into the large bowl with the mashed sweet potatoes. Mix well. Pour the mixture into a small baking dish and smooth top with the back of a spoon or spatula.

To make the topping, toss together the pecans, brown sugar, and flour. Cut in bits of coconut oil with a fork or knife. The final mixture should look crumbly.

Layer the pecan topping into the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.