Perfect Southern Candied Yams
The down-right bomb candied yams recipe, with heavenly, lightly spiced brown sugar caramel that your family will ask you to make again every year. With or without the optional marshmallow topping, this is a perfect holiday side dish that just happens to be completely vegan and gluten-free too.
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 285kcal
Cost: $11
Ingredients
- 3 pounds sweet potatoes
- ½ cup vegan butter
- ¼ cup unsweetened plant-based milk
- ½ cup brown sugar coconut sugar, or palm sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
Optional Marshmallow Topping:
- 4 cups vegan marshmallows
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
- Peel the sweet potatoes and slice them into ½-inch (1.25 cm) thick rounds.
- Arrange the slices evenly in the prepared baking dish.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the vegan butter. Once melted, stir in the milk and heat until warmed through.
- Mix the sugar, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, and salt into the saucepan, and whisk together until the sugar dissolves.
- Pour the sweet syrup evenly over the sweet potatoes, ensuring the slices are well-coated. Cover the dish tightly with foil. Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
- After 30 minutes, remove the foil, gently stir the sweet potatoes. Continue baking, uncovered, for an additional 25-30 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are a little more than fork-tender.
- If you are using them, add marshmallows to the top and put the tray under the broiler for about a minute to lightly brown the marshmallows. If your oven doesn’t have a broiler, add them just 15 minutes after removing the foil, giving them 15 minutes to melt and brown before removing the pan from the oven.
Notes
🥫Don't Even Think About It:
Canned yams suck for this. They are already too soft, often contain some flavorless sweetener, sometimes some crap like artificial vanilla extract, and don't really save you much time anyway. Use real yams for this, ok? 🍠Wouldn't It Be Slice:
Cut your sweet potatoes into uniform ½-inch rounds for even baking. Uneven slices lead to a mix of mushy and undercooked pieces, which will make a grown man cry. 🔥The Broil Wedding:
Keep a close eye when broiling the marshmallow topping. Marshmallows brown fast, and a lot of broilers have pretty uneven heat, so spin the tray after 30 seconds and broil for just about 1 minute. ⏳No Broiler? No Problem!
Without a broiler? Add marshmallows 15 minutes before the end of baking. They’ll melt and brown nicely without burning.
Canned yams suck for this. They are already too soft, often contain some flavorless sweetener, sometimes some crap like artificial vanilla extract, and don't really save you much time anyway. Use real yams for this, ok? 🍠Wouldn't It Be Slice:
Cut your sweet potatoes into uniform ½-inch rounds for even baking. Uneven slices lead to a mix of mushy and undercooked pieces, which will make a grown man cry. 🔥The Broil Wedding:
Keep a close eye when broiling the marshmallow topping. Marshmallows brown fast, and a lot of broilers have pretty uneven heat, so spin the tray after 30 seconds and broil for just about 1 minute. ⏳No Broiler? No Problem!
Without a broiler? Add marshmallows 15 minutes before the end of baking. They’ll melt and brown nicely without burning.
Nutrition
Calories: 285kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 337mg | Potassium: 607mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 24687IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 74mg | Iron: 1mg