ORANGE PECAN SWEET POTATOES

I made this recipe before for Thanksgiving, but I did it in the slow cooker because of limited oven space. They were okay, but not anything like baking them in the oven or cooking on a grill as our son Patrick did this year for Thanksgiving. I could have eaten the whole pan and skipped dessert! They taste as good as any dessert!

I started by cooking the sweet potatoes in my Instant Pot. I actually shared that process on Monday. If you didn't see it, you can check it out HERE.

I baked three pounds of sweet potatoes in my IP, pulled the peeling off, and then quartered them. A few quarters I cut again because some of the sweet potatoes were much bigger than some of the others. 

You can bake the mixture in a 9 x 13 - inch pan in the oven if you prefer. Patrick has two BBQ grills. He cooked the turkey on one of them. On the other one, he cooked my cornbread dressing and these candied sweet potatoes. I had both mixtures in iron skillets because he said the grill might discolor glass baking dishes, etc. I was thinking the temperature was supposed to be at 375 degrees F. My dressing needed to cook at 400 degrees F. He couldn't get the temperature past 360 degrees F so we just cooked them a little longer. Actually the recipe just called for 350 degrees F, but it worked out great.

Oh, I omitted the pecans because some of the family doesn't like nuts in dishes. They would have tasted good.

ORANGE PECAN SWEET POTATOES

3     lbs sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled, and chunked/quartered

1/2  cup chopped pecans

1     cup brown sugar

2     tablespoons corn starch

1     cup orange juice

2     tablespoons butter

1     teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9 x 13 - inch baking dish with cooking spray. (I used a large, 9 to 10 - inch iron skillet.)

Prepare the potatoes: My pictures... cooking in IP,

peeling (so easy to pull off - the potatoes are a little warm...)

all done...

quartering them 

Add sweet potatoes and pecans, if you are using them.

Combine the brown sugar and corn starch in a small saucepan.

Gradually add the orange juice,

whisking to blend. Cook over high heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil.

reduce heat and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove from heat,

add butter and vanilla.

Pour evenly over the sweet potatoes.

Bake in oven for 45 minutes, until edges are browned and bubbly. (Patrick cooked them on his grill at 360 degrees F for about 45 minutes. Cornbread dressing also cooking.)

Serve and enjoy!

Here is the bacon-covered turkey (getting ready) cooking.

At some point he removes the turkey from the grill to remove the bacon...

 

and then back to the grill to finish cooking and browning. Just before Patrick carves it all up.

Oh! and the Cornbread Dressing...

It was a good Thanksgiving for our small family.

APPLE FRITTER BREAD

 It is really hard for me to pass up an apple fritter at the donut shop! Fortunately we don't go to donut shops often any more. Knowing how many calories are in one helps me stay in control most of the time. Knowing this, you can imagine how I felt when I saw this recipe for Apple Fritter Bread. I thought if I made it for the volunteers at Hillcrest Thrift Shop, I can control how much I eat of it. 

When I make the goodies on Sunday afternoon that I am going to take the next day, we will eat our one serving each that evening or I just leave them at home the next morning. 99.9% of the time if there are any servings left in the pan or plate when I get ready to leave to come back home, I put them on a paper plate and leave them at the shop.

One of the volunteers told me how much he loves cinnamon in things and that I got just the right amount in this bread. I think he knows what he likes. 

APPLE BRITTER BREAD

1/3       cup brown sugar

1          teaspoon cinnamon

2/3       cup white sugar

1/2       cup butter, softened (or at room temperature) - 1 stick

2          eggs

1-1/2    teaspoons vanilla

1-1/2    cups flour

1-3/4    teaspoons baking powder

1/2       cup milk

2          apples, peeled, and chopped or grated mixed with 2 tablespoons sugar + 1 teaspoon cinnamon

OLD FASHIONED GLAZE

1/2       cup powdered sugar (sifted)

1-3       tablespoons milk depending on thickness desired 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 5 - inch loaf pan with nonsticking cooking spray. Set aside.

Mix the first two ingredients - the brown sugar and cinnamon -  in a bowl with a fork. Set aside.

Beat the white sugar and butter until smooth and creamy.

Add the eggs one at a time until blended.

Add vanilla.

Combine the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl with a whisk.

Add to the creamed mixture and stir to combine and blend well. Mix in the milk and blend til smooth. (Can't find the pictures. The end result is all I have.)

Poor half of the mixture into pan. Top half of the apple mixture.

NOTE: I prepared each apple separately by grating it and

added 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/2 a teaspoon of the cinnamon to it. I waited to grate the second apple after I had topped the batter with the first apple. Maybe that's why I got the cinnamon just the right amount. 😉 

Top with half of the apple/cinnamon mixture (one apple mixture for me) 

Sprinkle half of the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture over the apple mixture.

Press lightly into batter.

Carefully pour rest of batter over the mixtures.

Top with rest (second apple) of the apple mixture.

Then the rest of the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Lightly pat into batter.

Using a knife or spoon swirl the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture thru the apples. This is to give the top of it that apple fritter look.

Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until tests done with a toothpick.

Place on wire rack to cool for 15 minutes 

Make the glaze by adding the milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you have the desired consistency you want.

(I just used 1 tablespoon.)

After 15 minutes since removing the loaf, drizzle the glaze over the top.

Allow to cool and then remove the loaf from the pan.

Wrap in foil and store in the refrigerator.

Cut in slices to serve. I didn't do a great job of putting half of the batter in the first time so the first layer of apples were closer to the bottom. Didn't ruin the taste, just messed with my perfectionism.