Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Pecans

Twice-baked sweet potatoes would make a fantastic addition to your holiday meal.  They are easy to prepare and so delicious!  Unlike a casserole, you can easily adjust the toppings to accommodate the preferences of whomever you're serving.  You can also make these ahead of time.  Just place them in the oven 20 minutes before you're ready to serve them.     

Note:  If you're short on time, you can microwave the potatoes for 15 minutes instead of baking for 1 hour.

Ingredients:
Serves 4

• 2 sweet potatoes
• 2 tbsp milk (I use skim)
• 1 1/2 tbsp sugar, or to taste  
• 1 tbsp melted butter 
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract 
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/16 tsp ground nutmeg
• Pinch of salt 
• 1/4 c pecans, chopped
• 1 to 2 tbsp brown sugar, for topping
• Optional:  Mini marshmallows, for topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Pierce the sweet potatoes on all sides with the tines of a fork.  

Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour, or until completely cooked through.  If you are short on time, you can nuke them in the oven for about 15 minutes.   

Using a sharp knife, split the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise.  Carefully scoop out the flesh with a spoon and place it in a large bowl.  Place the skins on a lightly greased baking dish.  Mash the sweet potato flesh with a fork.  Add the milk, sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and stir well to combine.  Spoon the sweet potato filling inside of the potato skin halves.  Top with chopped pecans and optional marshmallows, and sprinkle evenly with brown sugar.  

Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.  If you are using marshmallows, turn on the broiler until they brown, about 1 minute.

Enjoy!

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Original post from November 2010:

I have officially cooked my first traditional Thanksgiving dinner. My mother-in-law always cooks the meal for the entire family (20 people) but I won a free 17.5 lb turkey from the grocery store, so I decided to make my own meal. You never truly understand how much work it is until you prepare and cook the whole meal yourself. Everything turned out wonderfully without any nightmares, thankfully. It's funny because it takes weeks to prepare, hours to cook and only 15 minutes to eat and now it's all over. My kitchen is clean, the dishwasher is humming away, my turkey bones are simmering with vegetables and spices for turkey stock in tomorrow's dinner and I am relaxing with a glass of wine. Life is good. Plus, there is plenty of leftover turkey for turkey sandwiches for lunch and turkey pot pie for dinner tomorrow! One of the side dishes I was most looking forward to making (and eating) was the twice-baked sweet potatoes. These were so yummy and I will definitely be making them every year for Thanksgiving!