Sweet Potato Casserole with Chipotle

Start by preheating your oven to 325 F. I don’t care for boiling sweet potatoes so for this recipe I suggest steaming them. Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a pot with a large steamer basket or colander in place. Put the sweet potatoes in the basket, cover and steam until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Then remove the sweet potatoes from the basket and put them into a large mixing bowl. Mix together the sweet potatoes, honey, white sugar, eggs, salt, seasonings, butter, milk and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth or mash together if you prefer your dish to be a bit chunkier.

Now is when you add the chipotle peppers. I have a small food processor that I use for small jobs like this but you could just as easily dice the peppers. I spoon 3-4 spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the food processor and then add the peppers so they blend up nicely. Check for taste. Sometimes I add another pepper if the flavor doesn’t come through strong enough. When you are satisfied, add the blend back into your original bowl of potatoes and combine. Transfer the mixture into a 9×13 inch baking dish.

Mix the brown sugar and flour in a medium bowl and cut in the butter until coarse and grainy. Stir in the pecans and sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the topping is lightly brown.

Who doesn’t love sweet potato casserole? After seeing the same recipes over and over again, I thought it would be fun to try something new and add spicy to the sweet. It came out amazing!