Maple glazed sweet potatoes

The candy of the Thanksgiving stage: perfectly soft wedges of sweet potato with a buttery, caramelized glaze of sweetness. Sweet potatoes for purists; compelling enough to convert skeptics.

Ingredients

• 4 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 1/4 pounds)
• 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (only if butter is unsalted)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a sheet pan or large baking dish with butter or nonstick spray.
2. Peel sweet potatoes with a vegetable peeler. Using a sharp knife on a cutting board, cut each sweet potato lengthwise into wedges (first cut in half lengthwise, then put each half cut-side down and cut slices lengthwise about 1/2-inch thick, to make long wedges). Place wedges in a single layer on the greased baking dish.
3. In bowl or measuring cup, add maple syrup, butter and brown sugar (plus a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter). Warm in microwave until butter is melted. Stir to mix and use a pastry brush to glaze each sweet potato wedge. Flip the wedges and brush the other side as well.
4. Bake sweet potatoes for 35-40 minutes, until easily pierced by a fork. Use a spatula (the pancake turner kind, not the scraper kind) to flip the sweet potatoes. Broil the sweet potatoes in the oven for just a minute or two, watching carefully, until edges brown and glaze thickens.

Notes

• If you like, add a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg to the glaze.
• If you don’t have a pastry brush, just use a spoon to spread a thin layer of glaze on each wedge.
• This is a great Thanksgiving dish for making a day or two ahead. Refrigerate the sweet potatoes until Thanksgiving Day, and then you can reheat for 10-15 minutes in a hot oven before serving (temperature not important – just pop it in with whatever else is cooking). Alternatively, you can bake the glazed sweet potatoes ahead and leave the broiling step until just before serving, which will also reheat the sweet potatoes at the same time (this approach is just a bit riskier – broiling requires your full attention, and Thanksgiving has a lot of distractions).

Here’s a link back to the post and pictures.