HEALTHIER SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE WITH CRUNCHY PECAN PRALINE TOPPING

Irresistible combination of sweet, buttery, crunchy……my healthier version uses more wholesome ingredients and no refined sugar – the taste is as mouthwatering as the original. This is a nice side dish for turkey and will be a welcomed addition to you any festive meal.

First a bit of background history of this recipe……

Sweet Potato Casserole recipe comes from my mother-in-law, she has been making this family favourite for years.  This is the most requested dish  from all 8 grandchildren who range in age from 10 to 30 (my son being the youngest),  this is the kind of recipe that gets passed on to future generations.   This for fun, I’ve included a picture of all 8 grandkids at my parent-in-laws 60th wedding anniversary in 2017.

 The original recipe, calls for Kellogg’s cornflakes (for the crunchy topping)  and pretty copious amounts of white sugar and brown sugar.   I’ve made a lower-carb version  of this dish with a few ingenious swaps – Swerve Sugar Replacement is a great alternative to artificial sweeteners like aspartame, Sucralose  or saccharin.  Swerve is a low-carb, a calorie-free sugar replacement made from natural ingredients.  It doesn’t have the bitter aftertaste of some brands of stevia. Swerve comes in sugar, icing sugar and brown sugar replacements. You can easily replace some of the sugar in a recipe with Swerve to lower the sugar and carb amount in your recipe.

Instead of Kellogg’s cornflakes, a high-glycemic cereal made from GMO-corn and white sugar, I used instead Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes made from 6 high-fibre ancient grains including kamut, quinoa and millet.  

Ingredients:

for the sweet potato:

3 medium sweet potatoes , peeled, cubed (about 8 inches long,  600 grams each for a total of about 1800 grams) \

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup Swerve Granular Sugar Replacement 

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt 

for the pecan praline topping:

2 cups Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes, crushed 

1/4 cup butter, melted (melt carefully in a microwave)

1/2 cup Swerve Brown Sugar Replacement 

1/2 cup chopped pecans 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°.  Place sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Do not boil for too long, or else potatoes will become soggy. Drain and let cool slightly then transfer to a large bowl.

Add egg, Swerve sugar substitute, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to sweet potatoes and use a potato masher to mash until smoother (you don’t need to get rid of all the lumps, it’s nice with a bit a texture). Transfer to prepared 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Crush Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes by placing flakes in a ziplock bag and rolling a rolling pin over it, or just crush with your hands.

Combine all topping ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until combined.

Sprinkle the topping mixture over the sweet potatoes and bake until warmed through and golden on top, 25 minutes. Serve warm.