Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Brown Sugar Walnut Crust

Recipe

• In a large pot of boiling water, add the sweet potato cubes. Boil until they’re soft and ready to be mashed. 
• While those are boiling, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
• Set the walnuts on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 5 minutes.
• Once the 5 minutes are up, remove them from the oven and using a meat mallet or something hard, crush the walnuts into smaller pieces for a crush. Not too small though! You want to have a nice crunch with the sweet potatoes. Set the walnuts aside. 
• Back to the potatoes, drain all of the water and then put the potatoes back into the hot pot. Add in the 2 tbs of butter and using a mashing tool, mash the potatoes until all of the lumps are gone. 
• Add in the maple syrup, milk, vanilla extract, all spice and cayenne pepper. Stir until it’s all mixed up. 
• Spoon the sweet potatoes into your serving dish and then set aside. 
• For the crust: In a small bowl, melt the 1/4 cup butter. 
• Add in the flour and brown sugar into the melted butter and stir until it’s a smooth consistency. 
• Add in the walnuts and stir until all of the walnuts are coated. 
• Sprinkle the walnuts over the sweet potato dish. 
• Serve warm! 

As if the name isn’t a seller, this mashed sweet potato with brown sugar walnut crust has a mix of sweet and spicy. I add a little cayenne pepper to the sweet potatoes once they’re mashed and it gives a nice bite at the end. The key to the crunch is to roast the walnuts for a few minutes before crushing them and mixing them with the brown sugar mixture. Have I sold you on this dish yet?

This is a perfect Thanksgiving side dish, but you’ll notice I have it serving a smaller group below in the ingredients, but if you need more, just double the recipe.