I have been craving something sweet, but since I am trying to watch what I eat, I thought sweet potatoes would be a healthy enough substitute. I like eating them right out of the pot, and so do my girls. In fact I had to scold my two year old, because she was sneaking raw sweet potatoes while I was waiting for the water to boil.
I know most of the time people eat sweet potatoe casserole around the holidays, but why limit such a yummy treat to the holidays? This is so quick and easy, and almost guilt free, I did add some pure maple syrup but not too much.
I had two sweet potatoes, one medium sized one and a giant one. Most of the time, I have found that vegetables are best when they are little, younger the taste is just better. However, with sweet potatoes the opposite is true, the bigger ones are sweeter.
I peeled them and cut them into about even sized pieces and threw them in a pot of boiling water that had some ginger and cloves. I took them out when they were fork tender and put them into an oven safe dish and mashed them with a fork.
You could put them into a seperate bowl and mix them to get all the lumps out. I kind of like the rustic look, and I also one less dish to wash.
After I mashed them with a fork, I added about 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup and a sprinkle of salt, and mixed. I crushed up some hazelnuts, sprinkled those on top and then topped everything off with some marshmallows. Of course if you are watching what you are eating, you can always skip the marshmallows.
Pop your sweet potatoes into a preheated 350° oven, and heat thoroughly, until the marshmallows are nice and golden.
Ingredients
- 2-3 Sweet potatoes, peeled
- 1″ of ginger, peeled
- 6-8 cloves
- 1/2 tspn cinnamon
- 1/2 tspn ground cloves
- 2-3 Tbpsn maple syrup
- 1/2 tspn salt, to taste
- 1 cup hazelnuts, chopped
- 1 cup marshmallows (optional)
Directions
- Bring some water to a boil. While the water is getting hot, peel and cut your sweet potatoes and your ginger.
- Put your ginger, sweet potatoes, and whole cloves into your boiling water. Boil until the sweet potatoes are fork tender.
- Put the sweet potatoes into an oven safe dish and mash them with a fork, and drizzle with maple syrup.
- Sprinkle with salt, cinnamon, and ground cloves mix and smooth out the top so it is relatively even.
- Toss the chopped hazelnuts over the top and throw the marshmallows on top of everything.
- Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 12-15 minutes, until the marshmallows are nice and melted and golden brown.
