Sweet Potato Casserole

I've never cared for sweet potatoes too much. My mom never made them that I can remember, and the only time we ever saw them as kids was at my grandparents' at Thanksgiving and Christmas, when Grandma would make some sort of casserole with the marshmallows on top. You'd think that would entice a girl with a sweet tooth like myself, but.....not so much, really.

I've tried to start eating them once in awhile, seeing as they are very nutritious and all, and I even enjoy sweet potato fries with some seasoned salt on them.....but they're still not my favorite.

But when I saw this recipe posted by the Pioneer Woman, I knew I had to try it. No, it's not the most healthy option around, and yes, it could even qualify as a dessert. But let me just tell you, it is delicious. I made it for a "Thanksgiving" dinner that my church community group had last Sunday, and even the non-sweet potato eaters said it was yummy.

The original recipe called for 4 medium sweet potatoes. Now, that's a bit confusing to me, because sweet potatoes have a wide range of sizes and I just wasn't sure if the 8 I was using were small or medium. I ended up deciding they were small, so I just used 1.5x the rest of the recipe instead of doubling it. Does that make sense? Well, here's what I did.

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Recipe:

8 small-medium sweet potatoes

1-1/2 cups sugar

1-1/2 cups milk

3 eggs

1-1/2 t. vanilla

1-1/2 t. salt

healthy dash of cinnamon

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (or a little less, if you want)

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Preheat oven to 375. Wash sweet potatoes, pierce a little with a fork, and bake (on a cookie sheet) for 30-35 minutes, or until fork tender.

Cut them open, scoop out all the flesh, and dump in a large bowl. Mash well, until desired consistency. Don't try to get all the lumps out, it's better if it's not all smooth.

Add sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. Mash some more until all combined.

Pour into a greased 13 x 9" pan.

Increase oven temp. to 400!

In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar, pecans, and flour. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter (or whatever you have available) until well mixed.

Sprinkle over the top of the potatoes, covering well.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

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It's SO good. So good. I'm not waiting till Thanksgiving to make this again.