We’re have a super gigantic Thanksgiving this year with all of Mister’s family. His dad’s got a big birthday coming up during the season so we’ll all be gathering to pay homage.  I was asked to provide the birthday cake, two pies and sweet potatoes. Wait . . . what? I don’t know how to make sweet potatoes! Why did that ask me to make those? It turns out I made some really phenomenal sweet potatoes a couple of years ago and everyone has been dreaming of them since. Only I have no recollection of making them. Which means I have no idea what recipe I used.

With great trepidation I went to my recipe box and there was a recipe for Sweet Potatoes! And I’d written the word “fantastic” across the top! Phew. I was really panicking. Now that I have the recipe, it’s sort of coming back to me. It was really great! I remember that now.

I did not grow up in a marshmallow-on-sweet-potatoes family. We ate candied yams. But Mister’s family is all about the marshamallows and sugar in everything. So I made this recipe, which has a pecan streusel topping, and after it finished baking I covered the top with marshmallows and set it under the broiler for a couple of minutes until the marshmallows were golden brown. The streusel ended up being a crunchy surprise layer in the middle of the marshmallows and potatoes.

I wish I could show you a step-by-step tutorial but as I’ve only made this once and I barely remember how to do it, let me merely give the recipe to you with promise of being the heroine of Thanksgiving dinner. These sweet potatoes really are decadent and fantastic.

4 1/2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup milk

1 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup butter

1 cup chopped pecans

Grease a 9×13 pan. Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large bowl mix together mashed sweet potatoes, 1/2 cup butter, milk, sugar, vanilla, and eggs.

Spread sweet potato mixture into greased baking dish. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and flour. Cut in 1/3 cup butter until mixture is crumbly then stir in pecans. Sprinkle pecan mixture over the sweet potatoes.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until golden brown. It tastes great at this point but if you want to gild the lily and add marshamallows, be my guest. Just sprinkle tiny marshamallows over the top and broil at 400° until they’re golden brown. This will only take a couple of minutes so don’t walk away!