Southern Soul Food Candied Sweet Potatoes
Southern candied sweet potatoes have been showing up on holiday tables for generations, and for good reason. With over a decade of sharing my recipes online and Southern family roots in Louisiana and Mississippi, I can tell you this recipe delivers the classic flavor and texture people are looking for without any complicated steps.
Servings 5 servings
Calories 209kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes Washed and Peeled. This was 2 large sweet potatoes for me. Weigh for accuracy.
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup dark brown sugar or sweetener
- ¾ cup white sugar or sweetener
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons vanilla I use pure vanilla, not imitation.
- ¼ cup water Optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Peel and slice the sweet potatoes into rounds about ½ to 1 inch thick. I love to use this swivel peeler from Amazon. It peels fast.2 pounds sweet potatoes
- Add the sweet potatoes to a 9x13inch baking dish.
- Heat a saucepan on medium-high heat and add the butter.½ cup unsalted butter
- When melted, add the ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, white sugar, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla. Stir. You want to ensure the sugar melts down, but don't overcook the glaze.You want the mixture to be thick and somewhat saucy. If the mixture is too thick, add a little water. You don't want to add too much because the glaze will be too thin. I add ¼ cup. Taste the glaze repeatedly. Add more sugar/sweetener or spices to suit your taste.½ teaspoon salt, ½ cup dark brown sugar or sweetener, ¾ cup white sugar or sweetener, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, 2 teaspoons vanilla, ¼ cup water
- Pour the candied glaze mixture over the sweet potatoes.
- Cover the sweet potatoes in foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and stir and baste the sweet potatoes. Ensure the candied glaze mixture fully coats the sweet potatoes. I like to move the sweet potatoes from the bottom to the top, to ensure they all cook evenly and are coated in glaze.
- Cover the pan in foil and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Mine usually takes the full 20 minutes. Test the sweet potatoes by piercing them with a fork. You want for the potatoes to be soft.
- Allow the sweet potatoes to sit for 15 minutes before stirring. This will thicken up the candied glaze.
Video
Notes
- If making candied sweet potatoes for the first time, you may want to test out your desired level of sweetness. You can start with half of the recommended servings above. From there, continue to build and taste repeatedly until the dish suits your needs.
- You can omit any of the spices in this recipe, make it suit your taste.
- Watch your sweet potatoes closely. Every oven will cook at varying speeds. You may need more or less time.
- Your sweet potatoes will be runny if you don't allow them to sit in the sauce and thicken after baking.
- If you notice grains of sugar in your sweet potato glaze after pouring it over the sweet potatoes, it's fine. It will cook down as the sweet potatoes bake and when you baste the sweet potatoes after 30 minutes.
- The macros above assume monkfruit organic sweetener is used. If you use standard sugar the macros are: Cals: 397 Carbs: 58G Fat: 19G Protein: 1G
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 209kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 19g