Fabulous Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Fabulous Mashed Sweet Potatoes
The combination of orange sweet potatoes such as garnet or jewel, with white (Hanna) or Japanese sweet potatoes, creates delicious, silky-sweet mashed sweets, no sugar needed!
Our preference is Hanna sweet potato, also known as white sweet potatoes, over the Japanese. However, the Hanna is not as readily available. If you are using the Japanese sweet potatoes, and you’re cutting them before roasting, they need to be soaked in room temperature water for a few minutes since they will oxidize. They are also a bit starchier than the Hanna, which still works well in this dish. Note that it’s important to put Japanese sweet potatoes in the food processor while still quite warm or they become a bit gummy.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs sweet potatoes – either garnet, jewel, or any orange sweet potato
- 1 lb Hanna, also known as white sweet potato, or Japanese sweet potato
- ½ teaspoon Vietnamese cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- Optional: 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 4 tablespoons either butter, vegan butter, or coconut oil
- Salt to taste
Directions
Bake the sweet potatoes
Preheat the oven to 400º F.
Pierce the sweet potatoes 2 or 3 times with a fork.
Line a rimmed sheet pan with a silicone mat. How long these take to bake will depend on how large your sweet potatoes are. I’ve had small ones cook in 20 minutes and large ones take up to 60 minutes or more. You want them to be quite tender so when you poke them with a fork it should go to the center like butter.
Mash the sweet potatoes
Once done and while still warm, cut the potatoes in half, lengthwise. Holding the sweet potatoes with a clean towel will help if the sweets are too warm for bare hands. Scoop out the sweet potato flesh into a food processor.
Add the rest of the ingredients
Add the cinnamon, balsamic vinegar, butter or coconut oil, and ½ teaspoon of salt while the sweet potatoes are still warm. Run the food processor for a minute or two, then scrape down the sides and run it again.
We discovered, quite by mistake, that walking away from the food processor and letting it run for a few minutes creates the absolutely most delicious texture.