Penny's Sweet Potato Casserole

Name: Penny's Sweet Potato Casserole
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Yield: 10-12
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 8 medium sweet potatoes; 1/4 c dark brown sugar; 2 large eggs, slight beaten; 1/4 c evaporated milk or half and half; 1/4 c fresh orange juice; 1 tsp pure vanilla extract; 6 Tbsp very soft butter; 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg; 1/2 tsp cinnamon; zest from a medium-large orange; TOPPING; 1/4 c all-purpose flour; 4 Tbsp very cold butter; 6 Tbsp dark brown sugar; 1/2 c chopped pecans; 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon; 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg; zest from a medium large lemon

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By Penny Burdge
@PennyInKC

After using the same sweet potato recipe for 30+ years, this Thanksgiving (2012) I decided to try something different. My usual recipe uses quartered small sweet potatoes,a spicy/slighty sweet sauce of brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, butter and both lemons and orange juice.

I looked through all the sweet potato casserole recipes on this site (and allrecipes.com) - but I just couldn't find one that seemed to "fit" my family. Couldn't be too sweet and had to have a zing of citrus. So this is what I devised from multiple recipes. We loved it, especially the zip from the citrus zests.

Rating:

★★★★★ 1 vote5

Serves:

10-12

Prep:

1 Hr

Cook:

35 Min

Method:

Bake

Ingredients

8 medium

sweet potatoes
1/4 c

dark brown sugar
2 large

eggs, slight beaten
1/4 c

evaporated milk or half and half
1/4 c

fresh orange juice
1 tsp

pure vanilla extract
6 Tbsp

very soft butter
1/4 tsp

freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp

cinnamon
·

zest from a medium-large orange
TOPPING
1/4 c

all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp

very cold butter
6 Tbsp

dark brown sugar
1/2 c

chopped pecans
1/2 tsp

ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp

freshly grated nutmeg
·

zest from a medium large lemon
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How to Make Penny's Sweet Potato Casserole

Step-by-Step

Clean and wrap the sweet potatoes in aluminum foil. Bake in a 350 degree oven until soft, about 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven, remove foil and allow to cool until they cool enough to handle, but are still warm. Remove the skins.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, orange juice.
Put the sweet potatoes in a large bowl and hand mash with the soft butter, spices and brown sugar. Blend in the egg mixture. Stir in the orange zest. Place the sweet potato mixture in a 9" x 13" buttered casserole.
Make the topping by cutting the butter into the flour in a small bowl until you have pea-sized pieces. add the spices and pecans. Stir in the lemon zest.
Sprinkle the topping evenly over the sweet potatoes and bake for about 30 minutes until the topping is browned and crunchy.
*Note - if you like very smooth potatoes, in step 3 you can use a hand mixer to whip up the sweet potato mixture. We tend to like more texture to our food, so I just hand mash.