{"id":604,"date":"2015-01-27T07:00:20","date_gmt":"2015-01-27T07:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/betondinner.com\/?p=604"},"modified":"2018-03-09T02:45:22","modified_gmt":"2018-03-09T02:45:22","slug":"baked-sweet-potatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betondinner.com\/baked-sweet-potatoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Baked Sweet Potatoes."},"content":{"rendered":"

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It feels a little silly to post a “recipe” for baked sweet potatoes. Like – poke some holes and stick ’em in the oven pretty much sums up the whole process. But if you’ve ever had the discouraging experience of baking potatoes\u00a0for a dang long time<\/em>\u00a0only to discover that they’re still hard as rocks when the rest of your dinner is ready, you can appreciate this post!<\/p>\n

We live in North Carolina, which is the #1 sweet potato-producing state in the country. But even the NC Sweet Potato\u00a0website<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is perpetuating the lies about how to bake a sweet potato: it says 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes, and\u00a0unless you have itty-bitty sweet potatoes, that’s just not going to get the job done. Or, I mean, maybe I’m just a total pig<\/del>\u00a0girl who likes her vitamin A, but I don’t mess with the itty-bitty ones for baking!<\/p>\n

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\n<\/a>I look for good-sized potatoes – about 10-12 oz each. For this reason, I like to buy them from a bulk bin so I can choose the ones I want – hefty, and fairly uniform without a super wide or narrow end. If I buy a bag with small ones or a range of sizes, I usually use the outliers for roasted sweet potatoes<\/a>!<\/p>\n

So: I highly, highly recommend cranking your oven up to 450, scrubbing and piercing some good-sized sweet potatoes, and baking them for a solid\u00a0hour. They need the extra heat to be completely soft and tender all the way through – fork-mashable, easy to separate from the skin, perfect baked sweet potatoes.<\/p>\n

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I recently discovered the trick of adding a cooling rack to my sheet pan to keep the sweet potatoes from getting a dark spot where they rest on the pan. A piece of foil is essential for easy clean-up!<\/p>\n

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At the hour mark, the baked sweet potatoes will be oozing molten, syrupy juices that bubble into sweet potato caramel on the foil – a good indicator that they’re ready! (Don’t worry if it turns black like above – most of it brushes right off the outside of the potatoes.) The sweet potatoes should be tender and give easily when you squeeze them, and the skin may even pucker a little or seem loose. They’re ready to split open and doctor up!<\/p>\n

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I love to keep it simple with a little butter and a sprinkle of kosher salt, maybe some cinnamon – the flavor and texture is so good already! If you want something extra special, I’m drooling over\u00a0Joy the Baker’s oat-and-pistachio crumble topping<\/a>, and Sally’s Baking Addiction has a sweet potato skins recipe<\/a> with cheese and bacon that looks heavenly!<\/p>\n

Oh, and I usually bake a few extra taters while I’m at it, because they’re great reheated! I store them in their skins, and then scoop the insides out onto a plate, mash it up a little with a fork, and warm them in the microwave.\u00a0They make a tasty lunch or easy dinner side later in the week!<\/p>\nPrint<\/a>

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