Thanksgiving wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a sweet potato casserole. It’s a classic side dish that just begs to be served alongside a big, juicy turkey. Not all sweet potato casseroles, however, are created equal. The big divide is with the topping: pecan vs. marshmallow. Almost everybody has a clear favorite. I decided to take this battle into the test kitchen in order to compare the two versions firsthand.
Growing up, we always had sweet potato casseroles with the brown sugar/pecan topping. As someone who doesn’t (didn’t…I’m working on it) like nuts, this did not make me happy. I dreamed about a sweet, marshmallow topping that could take all my cares away. Instead, I was stuck picking out pecans out of my Thanksgiving side dish. Now, I had the chance to take matters into my own hands and finally eat a marshmallowy sweet potato casserole I’ve always dreamed of.
Overall, these sweet potato casseroles were very easy to make. The directions are simple, so even an inexperienced cook can make a delicious sweet potato casserole. The Easiest Award goes to the Marvelous Marshmallow because the topping was slightly easier. You just have to sprinkle the marshmallows on top, as opposed to cooking something on the stove like you have to do with the nuts (though that wasn’t hard either). The Marvelous Marshmallow was also the winner of the Sweetest Award due to its topping. As long as I was making two casseroles, I decided to make the fillings slightly different. The Pecan-Pleaser used brown sugar, vanilla, and maple syrup whereas the Marvelous Marshmallow used more amounts of maple syrup as well as cinnamon.
The overall winner is…a tie. Everybody is his or her own judge of the sweet potato casserole debate. If your preference is nuts, then you’re going to love the Pecan-Pleaser. If you have more of a sweet tooth, then you’ll love the Marvelous Marshmallow.
Easiest: Marvelous Marshmallow
Sweetest: Marvelous Marshmallow
Nuttiest: Pecan-Pleaser
Overall Winner: Tie
Pecan-Pleaser: Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping
Ingredients
Casserole:
- 4 to 5 pounds sweet potatoes
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Topping:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wrap each sweet potato in foil and place on a cookie sheet. Bake sweet potatoes for 1 hour or until tender. Let stand until cool to touch (about 20 minutes). Turn oven down to 350 degrees F.
- Once the sweet potatoes are cool, peel using a fork or your hands. Put them in a large mixing bowl and then mash them.
- Mix with a hand mixer. Add brown sugar, vanilla and maple syrup, and mix again.
- In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add pecans and maple syrup, and heat for 1 to 2 minutes, or until pecans are well coated in the butter and syrup.
- While the pecan topping is heating on the stove, pour the sweet potato filling into an 8 x 8 inch casserole dish. Sprinkle the pecan topping over the casserole.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
Marvelous Marshmallow: Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallow Topping
Ingredients
Casserole:
- 4 to 5 pounds sweet potatoes
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Topping:
- 2 cups marshmallows
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wrap each sweet potato in foil and place on a cookie sheet. Bake sweet potatoes for 1 hour or until tender. Let stand until cool to touch (about 20 minutes). Turn oven down to 350 degrees F.
- Once the sweet potatoes are cool, peel using a fork or your hands. Put them in a large mixing bowl and then mash them.
- Mix with a hand mixer. Add maple syrup and cinnamon, and mix again.
- Pour the sweet potato filling into an 8 x 8 inch casserole dish. Sprinkle marshmallows evenly on top of the casserole.
- Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the marshmallows start to brown.
Which topping do you prefer?
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