Description
Twice baked sweet potatoes filled with a creamy mixture of mashed sweet potatoes, real maple syrup, warm spices, fresh apple pieces, and dried cranberries, topped with a brown sugar pecan crumble. Perfect for holidays or any fall dinner.
Ingredients
For the Sweet Potatoes:
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4 large sweet potatoes (about 2.5 pounds – I look for ones that are roughly the same size so they cook evenly)
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3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
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1/4 cup real maple syrup (not the fake stuff, please)
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1/4 cup whole milk or half-and-half
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1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
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1/4 teaspoon salt
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1 medium Honeycrisp apple, peeled and chopped small
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1/2 cup dried cranberries
For the Topping:
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1/2 cup chopped pecans
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2 tablespoons brown sugar
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1 tablespoon melted butter
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Pinch of salt
Instructions
Turn your oven to 400°F and let it heat up while you prep. Wash your sweet potatoes really well – I scrub mine under running water because they come from the ground and you never know what’s on there. Dry them off, then take a fork and stab each potato like 6-8 times all over. This lets steam escape so they don’t turn into potato bombs in your oven (yes, I’ve had this happen and it’s a mess).
Put some foil on a baking sheet because these things will leak sugary juice as they bake and you don’t want to scrub that off later. Arrange your potatoes on the foil and slide them into the oven. They need to bake for 45-55 minutes depending on how big they are. You want them so soft that when you poke them with a knife, there’s literally no resistance at all – the knife should glide right through the center.
Once they’re cool enough to touch without screaming, cut each potato in half the long way. Now you’re going to scoop out most of the insides, but leave about a quarter inch of potato attached to the skin. The skins need to be sturdy enough to hold all that filling, so don’t scrape them too thin or they’ll fall apart on you.
Dump all that scooped-out sweet potato into your mixing bowl. Now mash it up – I use a regular potato masher and just go to town on it until there are no big lumps. If you want it super smooth and don’t mind washing extra dishes, use a hand mixer on low speed for like 20 seconds. Don’t overdo it though or you’ll end up with something gluey and weird.
Add your melted butter, maple syrup, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to the bowl with the mashed sweet potato. Stir everything together until it’s all combined and uniform. The mixture should look like the most beautiful orange clouds you’ve ever seen.
Once you’re happy with the base, fold in your diced apples and dried cranberries. Don’t stir too much or the apples will break down. You want distinct pieces of both in there. The filling should be thick enough to hold its shape when you scoop it, but still creamy and smooth.
Turn your oven down to 375°F. Get your baking sheet with all those empty potato skins lined up. Now comes the fun part – take that gorgeous filling and start spooning it back into the skins. I always pile mine up pretty high, like a little mountain of sweet potato goodness in each one.
Don’t be stingy here. Really fill them up. I usually end up with a little extra filling because I’m generous with my scooping, and I’ll be completely honest with you – I stand at the counter and eat that extra bit straight from the bowl while I’m waiting for them to bake. Cook’s privilege.
Grab a small bowl and throw in your chopped pecans, brown sugar, melted butter, and a pinch of salt. Mix it all together with a fork until everything’s coated. This is what takes these from good to “oh my god what is this” good.
Sprinkle that pecan mixture all over the top of each stuffed sweet potato. Don’t be shy about it – you want a good amount of topping on each one. Some people try to be polite and only put a little bit on each potato, and then they wonder why theirs don’t taste as good as mine. The topping is the key.
Put them back in the oven for 20-25 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when the filling is heated all the way through and that topping is golden brown and your kitchen smells so good you want to cry. When you pull them out, give them like 5 minutes to cool down a bit because that filling is straight lava and you will absolutely burn your mouth if you dive in too soon. Not that I would know from personal experience or anything.
Notes
That melon baller thing I mentioned earlier? Changed my life. Before I figured that out, I was wrestling with these potatoes and tearing the skins and getting frustrated. Melon baller = smooth sailing.
If your filling seems too thick, add milk one tablespoon at a time. I made the mistake once of just dumping in a bunch of milk and ended up with sweet potato soup. Had to mash up another cooked sweet potato and stir it in to save the whole thing.
Here’s something nobody tells you – if you’re worried about the skins tipping over or collapsing, stick them in a muffin tin before you fill them. Sounds weird but it works perfectly. The muffin cups hold them upright and stable.
Toast your pecans before you chop them. Just 5 minutes in a 350°F oven makes such a difference in flavor. They get nuttier and more fragrant. Just watch them because nuts go from toasted to burned in approximately 14 seconds and you’ll be so mad at yourself.
The biggest mistake people make is overmixing the filling. You want it smooth, yes, but if you beat the heck out of it with a mixer for five minutes, you’ll activate too much starch and it’ll get gummy and weird. Mix just until smooth and then stop touching it.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American