Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Pecans

I love twice baked potatoes. They take the whippy loveliness of mashed potatoes and the oven roasted flavor of baked potatoes to create a perfect side dish. So, in this recipe, I took the same concept. It’s a marriage of whipped sweet potatoes with the toasty flavor of roasted sweet potatoes. The maple syrup adds depth and the ginger & orange juice adds a spark. Finished off with roasted pecans brings out toasted flavors. Enjoy!
Course Side Dishes
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

Cooking The Potatoes

  • 2 1/2 - 3 lbs Sweet Potatoes approximately 3 potatoes
  • Canola Oil & Kosher Salt

Whipping The Potatoes

  • 2 tbl Maple Syrup
  • 2 tbl Heavy Cream
  • 3 tbl Pecans chopped & toasted
  • 1/4 tsp Zested Ginger
  • 2 tbl Fresh Orange Juice
  • 1/8 tsp Cinnamon 2 dashes
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Garnishing the Potatoes

  • Orange Zest
  • 2 tbl Pecans

Instructions

Cooking the Potatoes

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub sweet potatoes under cold water. Dry. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Prick the potatoes with a fork. Rub with canola oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Cook for 1 hour (or until potatoes are tender when pricked with a fork). Cool potatoes for 10 minutes or until the cool enough to handle but not cold. *Do not turn your oven off.
  • Using a towel to handle the potatoes, cut in half horizontally. Scoop the potatoes into a mixing bowl, leaving the skins in tack. You’ll have to leave a little potato on the edges to keep the skins from tearing.
  • Put the potato skins back into the 400 degree oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes. This will help create a crisper potato skin.

Whipping the Potatoes

  • Add the maple syrup, heavy cream, ginger, fresh orange juice and cinnamon. Season with salt & pepper, to taste. With a hand mixer, whip the potatoes. Fold the 3 tablespoons of pecans into the potatoes.

Scooping the Potatoes

  • Scoop the whipped potatoes into four of the potato skins, discarding the remaining 2 potato skins. Sprinkle additional pecans and orange zest on top of each potato.

Reheating the Potatoes

  • You can make these potatoes up to a day ahead of time. Bring the potatoes to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the potatoes for 20 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 150 degrees.

Notes

*Toasting the pecans.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Arrange pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.  Bake for 5 minutes.