Candied Coconut Sweet Potatoes

From Our Best Bites

4 C mashed Sweet potatoes (4 med sweet potatoes or abt 2 large sized cans)
6 Tbs Sugar
6 Tbs butter (no margarine), softened or melted
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (eyeball it)
1 t vanilla

Topping:
If you're feeling naughty you can double this part :)

1 C brown sugar
1 C sweetened coconut flakes
6 Tbs melted butter

Note: You can make these up to a day or two ahead of time, just keep them well covered in the fridge and don't put the topping on until just before baking.

If using fresh sweet potatoes, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prick each sweet potato with a fork and place on foil in the oven. Cook for 40-60 minutes or until tender.


Once they've cooled enough to handle, slice in half and scoop out the insides into a mixing bowl.


To the mixing bowl add in sugar, butter, eggs, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla. Your butter should be soft enough to blend up easily so nuke it in the microwave before you add it to the bowl if you need to.


You could mash it all up by hand, but an electric mixer works great. I don't like it completely pureed, so I mix it just until everything is incorporated but there are still some sweet potatoes in larger chunks.


Spread this mixture evenly into a 9 x 13 pan.


For the topping, combine brown sugar and coconut and then pour melted butter over and combine. Mmm...


Take a pinch of the buttery-sugary mixture and put it in your mouth. Chew. Swallow. Then sprinkle the rest evenly over the sweet potatoes in the pan.


Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40-50 minutes. It will be more or less depending on the size of dish you use, whether you double the topping, etc. But the top should be nice and browned and bubbly so just keep an eye on it.


The sugar and butter caramelize the coconut to create crunchy, chewy, sweet, thanksgiving-y heaven in a pan: