Sweet Potato Love

My family is in love with sweet potatoes. It doesn't seem to matter how we make them, they are always a welcome addition to a meal. I'd been seeing recipes for a version that was mashed but had a super yummy topping, it seemed perfect for Thanksgiving. While our Thanksgiving plans changed a bit - thanks COVID - we still opted to go for the gold on these sweet potatoes - why not? I had help! At first we thought we had to peel and boil the sweet potatoes, read the recipe Erin! Nope... cut them and bake them, scoop then and smash them with yummy things. Andy made the topping while I was out running errands, so I'm assuming it was easy. On Thanksgiving we put the topping on the prepared potatoes and tossed this in the oven - oh my they are amazing. These are worth tossing in normal dinner rotation and honestly easy enough to do for meal prep. I bet you could even make a batch and freeze them in smaller servings so you don't have 4 pounds of sweet potatoes to get through as left overs, but I think if given the chance, I could do it... maybe. If I can't, my kids sure can!

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping
3 pounds sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean
2 tablespoon olive oil
6 tablespoons brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
2 oz (4 tablespoons) butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt

Topping:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened slightly
½ cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400-degrees F. Butter a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut sweet potatoes in half. Coat with olive oil. Place cut side down on lined baking sheet. Roast in at 400-degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until fork tender. Remove from oven. Carefully remove skins. Place peeled sweet potatoes in a large bowl and mash until smooth. Set aside.
Reduce oven to 375-degrees F.
In a separate large mixing bowl, beat together the brown sugar and eggs. Beat in the milk, melted butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt. Add the mashed sweet potatoes and stir until thoroughly combined.
Spread mixture evenly in buttered casserole dish.
For the topping: In a mixing bowl, stir together the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans until combined. Spread evenly over sweet potato mixture.
Bake for 30 minutes at 375-degrees F or until heated through. Serve warm.