The sweet potato has risen through the ranks in recent years quickly becoming a favorite, healthier side dish option. You can cook it just about the same as any regular potato dish without worrying so much about blood sugar spikes, an especially important factor for diabetics. They are higher in vitamins and antioxidants, and are a sure-fire ingredient to level up any recipe or meal! While sweet potato fries are typically enjoyed year-round, mashed sweet potato recipes are a highlight of holiday and large family gathering meals. Today's recipe, Brown Butter Whipped Sweet Potatoes, are particularly perfect for your next Thanksgiving or Christmas feast! Simple enough that any home chef out there can pull them off perfectly every time, stick around and see if you will adding this delicious side dish to your next holiday spread.....Let's Get Cooking!
The only prep work required for this recipe is to poke several holes in the sweet potatoes with a fork or knife to prevent them from exploding in your oven. I mean, you don't even need to rinse them off because we will be tossing the skins later. Can a recipe start out much easier? Go ahead and preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit as well. That is it for now since there is no seasoning or secret tips.
Once your oven is finally up to temperature, slide these sweet taters in and sit down to relax. The size of your sweet potatoes will determine how long they need to bake. Smaller to medium-sized spuds should be cooked through in about 45 minutes whereas larger ones may require up to an hour or more. You felt how hard it was to stab them earlier on during prep, right? Check them after 45 minutes or so and see if the fork or knife easily glides in and out with little to no resistance. Make sure to check the very middle sections as they will be the last parts to get cooked. For all you thermometer freaks out there, the very middle section should read between 205 and 212 degrees for a perfectly cooked sweet potato!
Once your sweet potatoes are fully cooked, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool off for 15-20 minutes. While the potatoes are cooling, drop some butter into a saucepan and heat it over low to low-medium until the butter is completely melted. Keep the temperature low and stir the melted butter for a few more minutes until it begins to brown. Be careful not to overcook and burn the butter, but it should brown up and give off a nutty aroma. In the meantime, throw on a pair of gloves and pull the skin off the potatoes. They are likely still quite hot so be careful, but the skin should come off with almost no effort, assuming your sweet potatoes are fully cooked. You can toss the skins into compost and put the orange, delicious flesh into a large mixing bowl. It isn't completely necessary, but you can lightly break up the sweet potatoes to help the mixer in the next step. Keep your eye on the butter, though, and don't let it burn! In fact, just remove it from the heat at this point as it should be browned and ready for later.
I hope you managed that last peeling step without scorching the living flesh off your hands. I know I had on gloves and still had to be careful not to hold the potatoes very long. Anyway, now we are going to add the few seasonings for this recipe. Add the milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt. Hopefully by now when I refer to maple syrup you realize I am talking about legit maple syrup and not that fake plastic log cabin/lady shaped flavored sugar water your kids love on their waffles and pancakes, lol! If that is all you have on hand, by all means use it, but next time spend a few dollars and enjoy the real flavor of maple syrup. I know all my Canadian neighbors up North will agree!
Now, pull out your hand mixer and whip these spuds into a creamy and smooth puree of sorts. You can obviously do this step by actual hand, but I have found that using an electric mixer really helps break down the sweet potatoes and form a smooth and delicious whipped mash. If you choose to mix everything by hand, just call it rustic and people will enjoy those few tidbits of chunks left behind like you totally meant, eh?
And just like that you have created a delicious sweet potato mash! Of course, we are not stopping here, are we? Hell Naw! We got that nutty brown butter to top off these sweet spuds completing the side dish and bringing it up to a whole new level of flavor. If you are like my family and don't care about fancy presentations much, just pour the butter over the sweet potatoes in the same mixing bowl and plop it down on the dinner table for all to enjoy. However, since you are likely making this for a fancy holiday meal, maybe transfer it over to a nice serving dish or platter first. Same story just looks nice, and your family can Instagram the shit out of your amazing cooking and presentation skills!
What do you think? Will you be adding this Brown Butter Whipped Sweet Potatoes side dish to your next holiday feast? Even with the butter this recipe stays within actual healthy limits at only 170 or so calories per serving! You don't have to reserve it for special meals, and you can enjoy it year-round if you wish. It is easy to scale up or down and only takes a little over an hour from start to finish. This recipe's simplicity means you can really focus on the protein and main course without fretting much on the side! Give it a try and let me know what you and your family thought about these Browned Butter Whipped Sweet Potatoes....Just Keep Cooking!
BROWN BUTTER WHIPPED SWEET POTATOES
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