Mashed sweet potatoes or garnet yams can always be found on our holiday or Thanksgiving table. Most often we make a double or triple recipe because everyone wants the leftovers! Usually we just bake them, scrape out the insides, and mash with some butter and brown sugar.
Here’s the thing with sweet potatoes, they pair beautifully with oranges and holiday spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg.
My father first came upon this idea in an old issue of Bon Appetit. The recipe includes grated orange peel, lemon juice, and the spices you would normally find in hot mulled cider. We’ve reduced the sugar from the original recipe, and added some salt and pepper.
The spices give the yams a wonderfully festive holiday accent!
Holiday Spiced Sweet Potatoes (Yams) Recipe
You can easily make this recipe a day or two ahead and reheat right before serving.
If you don't have a fresh orange for the rind, you can stir in a little orange juice instead.
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 pounds red-fleshed sweet potatoes (yams)
- 1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
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