Disaster Chef: Sweet Potato Casserole (Project Pinterest)

This casserole was all over Pinterest around Thanksgiving, and we had lots of sweet potatoes, so inevitably I found it a perfect match. Apparently so did my sisters--they both made it for their own Thanksgiving dinners.

I was making this for my husband's family, and since you just never know about internet recipes, I made a test run the day before. I made the gluten-free recipe that day, using our own sweet potatoes and xylitol instead of sugar. It turned out a little weird on the top--the xylitol didn't melt and it looked kind of floury on the top instead of all gooey and melty how it looks in the picture on Frugal Freebies blog. Here is their recipe. For her gluten-free version, check out her blog.

Conventional Version
4 Cups Mashed Sweet Potatoes ($2.00)
3/4 cup white sugar ($.40)-->I used only 1/2
1/4 cup melted butter (I used salted) ($.25)
1/3 cup milk ($.25)
2 beaten eggs ($.30)
1 tsp vanilla ($.10)

 topping
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces ($.25)
1/2 cup flour ($.25)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar ($.40)
1 Cup Pecans ($3.00)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine the mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, melted butter, eggs, milk and vanilla in a medium bowl and mix with a spoon and pour into an 11 x 7 x 1.5 casserole dish (I never grease it- but I doubt to would hurt if you wanted to). Set aside.
Cut cold butter into flour and brown sugar until it has the consistency of small peas. Add in pecans and stir to combine. This has a crumble topping type consistency.
Sprinkle the topping onto the sweet potato mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cool for few minutes and then serve.
Serves 8-10 depending on portion.

I made it the regular way on Thanksgiving at the in-laws. I cut the sugar some because the sweet potatoes were already so sweet. But otherwise I followed the recipe. Again, the top never melted or got gooey how it looks in the picture. It was more crumbly than gooey. It was sort of ugly, honestly, and not that many people ate it, though the people who did gave me a few compliments.

I really like sweet potato casserole, and this was my first shot at it. I will try again next year, but with a different recipe.

Recipe: 2.5 out of 5 spoons

Prep & instructions: good, though it does not look like the picture