Behold the glorious yams.
I am something of a yam connoisseur. I started perfecting my tasting skills at a young age and by now have yam consumption down to an art. For this reason I hold Thanksgiving in very high regard. For one glorious day I have a free pass to eat as many yams as I want! If I’m lucky there are even leftovers that I get to snack on during the week to come. Thanksgiving is my jam.
I have obviously sampled many a recipe in my day, but as far as I’m concerned the recipe I am sharing with you today is THE ONLY ONE worth bothering with. It is, quite literally, the best yam recipe ever. It was originally introduced into my life when I was a child by my “Auntie Barb”, a close family friend. Auntie Barb hosted an annual Friendsgiving gathering and made this every single year.
Auntie Barb eventually shared the recipe with my mom who started making it for our family Thanksgiving celebrations as well. This meant that I would get not one but two rounds of yams each year! Thanksgiving kept getting better and better.
After I moved to Southern California I no longer got to enjoy these yams each Thanksgiving Day. Last year I decided that enough was enough, I needed my yams! I resolved to start a new tradition that I could share with my husband and his family whom we spend Thanksgiving with and prepared my favorite yam recipe for the very first time. Needless to say the yams were a hit and will be what I contribute to Thanksgiving dinner for years to come.
This recipe is straightforward and probably impossible to mess up. It yields unbelievably delicious results, making it the perfect dish to share with your loved ones this Thanksgiving. It has been special to my family for years and I hope that it can become a part of your family’s traditions as well. Enjoy!
The lineup of ingredients.
Ready to go into the oven.
Bon appetit! Good luck stopping at one serving.
- 2-3 pounds sweet potatoes
- 3 Granny Smith apples
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
- 1/4 cup butter to dot throughout
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Peel sweet potatoes and cut into large pieces
- Cover baking sheet in olive oil and spread sweet potatoes on it evenly. Place in oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until tender, flipping potatoes every ten minutes or so.
- While potatoes bake, peel and slice Granny Smith apples into thick pieces.
- Remove sweet potatoes from oven and lower temperature to 350 degrees.
- Combine Granny Smith apples, chopped pecans, and brown sugar.
- In a 7x11 baking dish alternate layers of apple mixture with yams. Dot butter throughout.
- Bake uncovered for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
- At serving time sprinkle marshmallows over the top and put under broiler to melt.
To reheat, cover baking dish in foil and place in oven at a low temperature to warm.