Twice ‘Baked’ Brown Sugar Spiced Sweet Potatoes

The inspiration for these twice ‘baked’ brown sugar spiced sweet potatoes was from our mom’s love of sweet potatoes. Growing up, our mom would frequently bake off sweet potatoes as a delicious side for weeknight meals. She would line a cookie sheet with foil, set on sweet potatoes, puncture them with a fork, and stick the entire sheet of whole sweet potatoes into the oven. Once our entire house smelled of baking, caramelizing, sweet potatoes, she pulled them out of the oven, cut them in half down the center, and topped them all with generous cubes of butter. We loved eating these throughout our childhood. The finished sweet potatoes had a soft, orange center with puddles of salty, melted butter throughout. 

Baked sweet potatoes were always a staple in our home, but it was extra special when Mom would make her famous twice baked sweet potatoes. Mom would first bake or boil them until tender. After cooking, she removed the skin, cut them into rings, and placed them in a glass baking dish. She topped each of the sweet potato rings with a generous dollop of softened butter and sprinkled a golden layer of brown sugar over top so just a few specks of bright orange sweet potato peeked through. She would then reheat the potatoes in the oven until they were bubbling and warmed through. This twice baked method resulted in caramelized sweet potatoes with soft centers and a slightly crisped brown sugar top. 

We loved these brown sugar twice baked sweet potatoes so much that we made our own version with a little bit of spice to make them even more festive for the holidays or perfect for a dinner party. Our twice ‘baked’ brown sugar spiced sweet potatoes are made just like Mom did but with a warm, spiced, brown sugar top. They are soft in the center with a caramelized spiced, brown sugar layer on top. Each bite is sweet, buttery, and spicy all in one. They are so delicious and a unique twist on classic sweet potato sides. 

To make the twice ‘baked’ brown sugar spiced sweet potatoes:

Start by washing the skin of the sweet potatoes until cleaned. Once the potatoes have been washed, place them in a large pot of boiling water and cook until a fork can pierce through them. The sweet potatoes should be tender. 

Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, strain them and allow them to cool. When the potatoes are cool, use your fingers to peel back the skin. It’s easiest to start at the end and peel back the skin. Try to peel as thin of a layer as possible as you want the sweet potato to stay intact. If the potato falls apart don’t worry, it will still bake up fine and taste delicious! 

When the sweet potatoes are cooled, cut them into rings that are about 1 ½ inches thick. Place the sweet potato rings in a baking dish lined with foil. Top each sweet potato with a generous dollop of butter until the stick is evenly distributed across the pan.

Mix the salt, spices, and brown sugar and stir to combine. Sprinkle the spiced brown sugar across the top of the sweet potatoes until all the sugar covers the potatoes in a generous, even layer. Bake the sweet potatoes for ~20 minutes until bubbling then broil for 2-3 minutes until a golden layer forms on top. 

Notes:

1. Peeling: when peeling the sweet potatoes with your fingers, try to remove a thin layer avoiding the stringy center. The goal is to keep the sweet potato intact. The easiest way to do this is by starting at the end and peeling back the skin with your fingers.
2. Foil lining the pan: these sweet potatoes are sticky and delicious, but that often comes with tricky cleanup. To avoid this line the pyrex with foil and bake! This will ensure the foil catches all the caramelized brown sugar bits.

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Twice ‘baked’ spiced sweet potatoes

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 5 medium sweet potatoes washed
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon chipotle pepper powder
• ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
• Pinch cayenne
• ½ cup dark brown sugar

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350
• On medium-high heat, set a large pot of water to boil
• Once boiling, add in whole, washed sweet potatoes
• Cook the sweet potatoes for ~20 minutes until they are tender. To test if they are done, poke them with a fork and the fork should just be able to glide through the center of the potato. They should be soft throughout. Strain the sweet potatoes and let them cool
• Once the sweet potatoes have cooled, remove the sweet potato skins with your fingers by starting at the end of the potato and peeling back the skin. Remove the thinnest, outermost layer of the skin (not the firmer orange layer that keeps the sweet potato in tact). The goal is to have whole sweet potatoes after peeling, but if the potato breaks, just throw it in the pan as cubes!
• Cut the peeled sweet potatoes into rounds about 1 ½ inches thick. Set the rounds into a 9×13” pyrex (lined with foil for easy clean up!)
• Place ~1 teaspoon cube of butter on each sweet potato (just distribute the stick evenly across the potatoes)
• Add the salt, spices, and brown sugar into a small bowl. Stir to combine. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the sweet potatoes
• Place pan in oven and bake for ~20 minutes at 350
• Set oven to broil and cook 2-3 more minutes until bubbly and golden on top

Entertainer’s Note:

Make the sweet potatoes in advance, a few hours or the night before and place them in the fridge until ready to bake. Once it’s time to bake them, pop the entire prepared pyrex into the oven.