Elevate Your Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes With This Spin

Just when you think a twice-baked sweet potato recipe can't get any better, we're here to deliver some promising news to inspire your culinary creativity. The dish can offer a comforting snack or a delicious side to complete a meal, and can be customized to complement the other flavors on your menu. Whether topping pieces with freshly chopped garden herbs, caramelized bacon, or your favorite cheese (try mascarpone for an extra decadent dish), these tasty treats hold serious potential in your weekly meal rotation — and we'd like to encourage you to embrace the sweeter side of the spud.

For a treat that turns the twice-baked recipe into dessert territory, top pieces with coconut sugar. The easy add results in a caramelized crust that forms on top of each piece. Though most aspiring home chefs may commonly reach for brown sugar, opting for coconut sugar brings an earthy taste of the tropics to your dish that can surprise and delight palates. These sweeter potato pieces can be crowned with coconut cream to double down on the earthy flavor and offer a dairy-free option to those with dietary restrictions. Add pecans for a bit of crunch and garnish plates with dustings of cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt for a delicious presentation. You can even add a handful of blueberries for a seasonal touch or sprinkle some seeds on top of the potatoes for additional texture during the second bake. 

Once you have the perfect sweet potatoes prepped for your project — we prefer creamy Covingtons, red garnets, and jewel sweet potatoes — it's time to get cooking. Typically, you'll need to plan around an hour to put together twice-baked sweet potatoes. After first baking oil-coated potatoes, you'll need to slice the pieces to hollow out the shells and pulverize the flesh into a smooth, creamy filling. You can add ingredients to the filling like cashew nuts, nutmeg, and lemon juice, then refill the shells with your creation to return to the oven. 

Prior to the second baking, crown the filled potatoes with an extra handful of chopped nuts and the final flourish of coconut sugar to bake for an additional 15 minutes or until crispy and brown. In addition to making more potatoes than you think you need in order to pack each piece with extra filling, you may want to set aside a few more potatoes to reheat later on in the week. After all, these coconut-sugar-topped spuds are sure to go quick.