A dairy free and not so sweet twist on sweet potato casserole

I will first confess that I really love sweet potatoes but have never tried sweet potato casserole.  A couple weeks ago I asked what I could bring to a family Christmas party and I was asked to bring sweet potato casserole.  "Hmm, okay.  Off to Pinterest I go," I thought.  After reading a few recipes and one from my favorite vegan blog I decided to blend a couple recipes together but stick a little truer to the vegan blog recipe.

My first attempt at making the sweet potato casserole was a hit with the family but I wasn't very thrilled.  Even though I used less sugar and maple syrup than called for it was still too sweet and that sweetness overpowered the sweet potatoes.  My second attempt for Christmas dinner was much more to my liking.

So here is the link to the vegan sweet potato casserole I used as a guide This ain't your Grandma's Sweet Potato Casserole .  She calls for vegan butter and while Kai and I limit our dairy we would rather use a small amount of butter than something full of chemicals, soy, or other artificial ingredients.  I will play around with different flours next time but this time we just used all-purpose flour because I didn't think oat flour would have the right taste and texture we were looking for.

I made this with 3lbs of sweet potatoes instead of just 4 large potatoes and thankfully I had my trusty prep cook, Kai to wash and dice all the potatoes for me.  After washed and diced I dumped them in a pan, covered them with water, and cooked them until tender.  I then mashed the potatoes with 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, added 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, a little bit of salt, a teaspoon of nutmeg, and a teaspoon of cinnamon.

After mashing the potatoes and blending all the ingredients I transferred it to a stone casserole dish.  In a small bowl I combined  1/4 cup of unsalted butter, 1/3 cup brown sugar, and 1/3 cup of flour and spread on top of the sweet potato casserole and then baked in the oven for 45 minutes.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Filling

• 3 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cooked
• 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract 
• 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon of fine grain sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 

Topping

• 1/4 cup of unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Peel and boil the sweet potatoes until tender.  I always chop my potatoes before cooking them. 
3. Mash the sweet potatoes with the butter and then add in vanilla, maple syrup, and spices. 
4. Pour into a casserole dish.
5. Combine the three topping ingredients and then sprinkle on top of the casserole.
6. Bake for approximately 45 minutes.