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Sweet Potato Casserole That’s Basically Dessert

Creamy sweet potato casserole with honey and toasted pecans—no marshmallows needed. The perfect holiday side dish that doubles as dessert!
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Sweet potatotes in a casserole dish seasoned with brown sugar, honey, cinnamon and nutmeg. Topped with toasted pecans.
Prep Time:30 minutes
Cook Time:45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4-5 large sweet potatoes peeled and then boiled until fork tender
  • 1 cup light brown sugar you can bring it down to 1/2 cup if preferred
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 2 tbs honey
  • 1 cup toasted pecans

Instructions

  • Wash and peel sweet potatoes. Boil your sweet potatoes in a large stock pot of water until fork-tender (about 20 minutes), then mash them up real good. (You can use a mixer if you’re fancy or just a fork if you’re me and forgot to charge the hand mixer again.) Or, you can leave them whole and quarter them up.
  • Mix in brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a drizzle of honey. Taste it. Try not to eat it all with a spoon. Fail slightly.
  • Add your sweet potatoes first to a lightly sprayed or greased casserole dish. Then add the brown sugar, spices, honey mixture over the top. If you’ve mashed your sweet potatoes, you’ll need to mix them with a spoon. If you’ve quartered them, you’ll just need to move them around with a spoon until well coated with the mixture.
  • Top with toasted pecans. You can toast them in a dry skillet for a few minutes until they smell like autumn happiness.
  • Bake at 350°F for about 20-25 minutes, or until the top is golden and your kitchen smells like Thanksgiving.

Notes

I know some of y’all are die-hard marshmallow fans when it comes to sweet potato casserole. And while I usually go the pecan route (team crunch forever), you can absolutely add marshmallows to this recipe if that’s what your sweet tooth demands.
Here’s how to do it:
After spreading the mashed sweet potato mixture into your dish, you’ve got two options:
  1. Half-and-half situation: Cover half the casserole with toasted pecans and the other half with mini marshmallows—best of both worlds and no family fights at the table.
  2. Double topping magic: Go all in and add a layer of pecans and a layer of mini marshmallows on top. Bake it until the marshmallows are golden and gooey and the pecans are perfectly toasted. Yes, it’s indulgent. Yes, it’s worth it.
Pro Tip
Just remember: add the marshmallows during the last 10 minutes of baking so they don’t burn. They go from golden to campfire disaster real fast.
Servings: 6 people
Author: Sarah@TheHotMessKitchen