The Holy Grail of Sweet Potatoes

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

I think I could live without any other dish at Thanksgiving dinner, as long as I have these Candied Sweet Potatoes. Sticky, gooey, creamy and chewy, they are truly the Holy Grail of sweet potatoes! It is my mother’s recipe and she has faithfully made it every year for as long as I can remember. Even when we went to someone else’s house for Thanksgiving, she would be asked to bring them. I get farklempt just thinking about them!

The recipe is very easy and only requires a few ingredients. The trick is reducing the syrup a little on the stove, before you pour it over the sweet potatoes and bake them. They take a while to make, but I promise, they are worth it!
Candied Sweet Potatoes

2 lbs. sweet potatoes
3 tbsp. butter
3/4 cup Karo dark corn syrup
3/4 cup Karo light corn syrup
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 bag miniature marshmallows

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Bake sweet potatoes until half-baked, about 40 minutes. Remove, cool, peel and slice lengthwise into wedges about 1 inch thick. Line a large baking dish with the potato wedges. Dot all over with thin slices of butter.

Add the next 4 ingredients to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. It will bubble furiously. Continue boiling over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until it starts to thicken.
.


Pour over sweet potatoes and bake for 45-50 minutes, until syrup is thick and gooey.

Top with marshmallows and bake another 3 minutes, until marshmallows are nicely puffed and toasted.

Enjoy!

  1. On November 22, 2007 at 9:23pm, megan said...

    These look absolutly amazing! I will try these but ,wow, so much corn syrup. Yum!

  2. On November 23, 2007 at 9:32am, StickyGooeyCreamyChewy said...

    Megan- They are pretty decadent. I guess that’s why we only have them once a year! 😉

  3. On November 26, 2007 at 10:12am, Tartelette said...

    I always feel like candied weet potatoes should be part of the dessert table. Looks decadent, waistline-busting gooooooooddd!

  4. On November 26, 2007 at 11:27pm, StickyGooeyCreamyChewy said...

    Tartelette- Yes, this is definitely not diet food. That is why we only make them once a year, even though I could eat them once a week!

  5. On August 23, 2008 at 11:08am, Anonymous said...

    Hi SGCC

    I just noticed that there is no spices in this recipe such as cinammon, nutmeg etc. Also no flavoring such as vanilla, by using corn syrup in this recipe there is no need for any spices or flavorings, I think corn syrup do have vanilla in it.

  6. On August 23, 2008 at 11:57am, StickyGooeyCreamyChewy said...

    Anonymous- You could certainly put spices in this dish if you wanted. I have intentionally left them out because my mom has a serious sensitivity to both cinnamon and nutmeg. They both make her violently ill! I never thought about adding vanilla. If you try it, let me know how it turns out.

  7. On November 29, 2008 at 9:15am, Passage of a Woman said...

    This is just like my grandmother used to make and exactly what I was looking from. She’s from the old south, and this was a staple! especiallay at Thanksgiving. The only difference is she never put it in the over except to brown the marshmallows. Made everything on top of the stove in a huge cast-iron skillet! What a memory! Thanks.

  8. On November 11, 2010 at 3:55pm, mary altier said...

    Can these be done before Thanksgiving & frozen?

  9. On November 11, 2010 at 4:04pm, mary altier said...

    Can these be made ahead & frozen

  10. On November 23, 2010 at 2:47pm, Rachel said...

    We have been invited to a friend’s house for Thanksgiving and been asked to take care of the sweet potatoes! I was secretly hoping they would ask us so I can try your recipe! I am soooooo excited! Thanks goodness for the simple things in life! :)

  11. On December 27, 2010 at 8:22pm, Kikukat said...

    This looks absolutely decadent. I need to make this now!

  12. On November 18, 2012 at 2:29pm, Mom24@4evermom said...

    Have you ever made these ahead? I was thinking of making them up Wednesday, through pouring the syrup over them, then topping them with foil and refrigerating. Then, on Thanksgiving, doing the final baking. Just wondering if you have any experience or thoughts on doing that.

  13. On November 21, 2012 at 9:14pm, Audra said...

    Yes!!!! BAKE them ahead of time and then stick them in before serving until warmed through. My mom made these for years and they taste better a couple of days later. The sauce gets into the sweet potatoes—-yum!!! I love them this way and I’m actually cooking mine right now!

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  20. On December 06, 2014 at 4:01pm, kittycatlover said...

    I made these for my family and they absolutely loved them! Simply decadent! I did find that I had to bake them for quite a bit longer to get the right gooey consistency, but I think this happened because I had to double the recipe. Thank you!

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  22. On March 26, 2016 at 1:46pm, Mauigirl said...

    Severely disappointed. Baked and baked until potatoes started to burn and sauce is like thin cough syrup.

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Hello and welcome to SGCC! I’m Susan, a professional writer, food columnist, recipe developer, wife, mother, daughter and sister, who used to be a lawyer in a previous life. My love of food comes from a long line of wonderful and creative Italian home cooks who didn’t always have a lot, but knew how to make a lot out of what they had. I hope that you enjoy yourself while you’re here, and visit often! read more >>

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